


Second Guessed

by Catthhay



Category: One Piece
Genre: Agony, Angst, Defiance!, Did I say no romance for the first hundred thousand words?, F/M, Like, Oops, Romance will happen WAY LATER, Suffering, This turning out super long lol, a mix of old and new ppl, and goofiness, and more~ - Freeform, but also good happy times, canon plots included, i meant THREE hundred thousand words :p, long ass story so buckle up, lots of death, original plots included, probably not for the first hundred thousand words tbh, way later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-05-25 22:12:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 23
Words: 171,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14986679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catthhay/pseuds/Catthhay
Summary: I died a stupid death. But I was reborn into a world with no boundaries, where Garp the Hero is my grandfather and my future can be amazing. Until I find that whatever reincarnated me had second guessed that choice, and I now have to battle for every second of my life against a terminal illness. I will not die pitifully again. I will live. Rated M to be safe. Eventual Zoro/OCAlso up on Fanfic.net under the same username and title





	1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay. Let's get this out there: I trust that you all are smart enough to know I don't own One Piece or any of the characters or arcs except my own. Maven is my character. I will not repeat this, because I don't think it is necessary. Also! The disease Maven has is made up. It might sound like a disease that actually exists, but all similarities are coincidental. This disease will obey the logic of One Piece— that is to say, very little at all. Expect little to no medical accuracy. Thank you! This is my first One Piece fanfic, and my first fic here on Fanfic net. I have stories up on AO3 if you want to check those out, but that's up to you. Thanks for reading!**

**Chapter warnings: Disease and death mentions.**

I had always had a problem with my health, but lately it seemed like the universe suddenly hated me and decided to make it far worse than it had ever been. I had been stuck in my empty house, cars gone as my parents had been out shopping and my phone at the other end of the house who-knows-where as I was on the floor of my bedroom gasping for breath. I don't know what had set it off, but an asthma attack had gripped me and my inhaler decided to finally conk out, completely empty. I had spent so much energy trying to get it to work that I no longer had any left to wobble and grab my phone, not that I had the air to speak into it in the first place, or the clear vision to properly text.

And then I woke up in a tiny body. Suffocating to death because of your own body's overcompensation in your lungs was a hard goddamned blow to take, it was an absolutely horrible death. Not only was it painful, it had been avoidable. Completely avoidable. If I had refilled my medicine on time, if I had kept my phone near me, if I had just fucking _stayed calm_ instead of wasting oxygen and energy panicking, I likely would have been fine.

But no. I ended up reincarnated, in the helpless body of an infant with my memories intact for some strange reason. Maybe it was my punishment for dying in such a pitiful way, never being able to forget it. Still barely twenty and mooching off my parents, too, with not a single major success to my name. Pitiful.

And maybe that was why, when I was one year old and trying to walk next to my twin brother, I was hit with another curveball. A deep man's voice, one I vaguely recognized but couldn't tell why just yet, spoke with the rough voice of the barbaric woman in charge of raising my brother and I.

"What do you mean, she's dying?!" The male's voice rang out. "She's got her father's blood in 'er, she won't die when her life hasn't even really started yet!"

An unfamiliar voice sounded. I figured it was the doctor they had inspect me earlier, apparently I was showing some signs of illness. I was still too young in my new body to be aware enough of it or the world around me to tell what the problem was. Even having an adult brain inside a toddler's body wasn't enough to return my full awareness or control over myself. Even things like potty training were still, to my shame, necessary for me to focus on learning. But spying? I could still do that.

I lifted my chubby body up, taking shaky steps closer to the door as my weak legs trembled under me. I wanted to hear.

"M-m-mr Garp, there isn't anything I can do. The disease is already spreading at the slowest rate I have ever seen, it should have crippled her already at the least. The fact that she is able to walk is a miracle already," the doctor's voice meekly reported, growing stronger after the initial stutter as the doctor gained confidence in her findings. "The disease will eat at her muscle mass. It starts with the extremities— fingers, arms, and such. It will reach her brain and heart eventually. There is no known cure," the doctor continued. "I'm sorry, Mr. Garp. Your granddaughter has a terminal illness, I give her three more years to live. Even then, she'll spend at the least the last year paralyzed. The time could be shorter or longer, however," the last part came out hesitantly, as if the doctor wanted to reassure my grandfather without giving false hope. "The exact amount of time it takes relies on her willpower. But she's only one so—"

My grandfather's deep laugh echoed suddenly, but my adult mind registered the fear hidden in the tone of it. He was worried. "If it's based on willpower, then she'll live to be eighty! No, a hundred and eighty!" He bellowed. His words made me lose my balance, falling onto my diaper-padded butt. I was only one year old, how could he think I had enough willpower to prove the doctor's diagnosis wrong? He was crazy! A crazy old man! I didn't have enough willpower to even keep breathing for an extra half hour in my old life, how would I live past the doctor's prediction?! But he continued.

"Willpower is one thing our family has in spades! Maven will be alright," he was splendid at hiding the tremor in his voice as he said my name. "She'll live. And I'll train her! The more muscle she builds, the longer it will take for the disease to kill her, right? That's fine then! I was going to make her into a strong marine anyway!" His laughter boomed again. Dadan, the barbarian who was raising my brother Ace and I, spoke up softly. It was a tone I had never heard her use before.

"Garp," she said softly. "I don't doubt your monster genes. But even if she lives another ten years, what will happen? I don't want to listen to that brat Ace cry over his sister. Not when we know she's not going to live as long as him."

Gramps was silent for a long moment. "She needs to build up muscle fast anyway," he said slowly. "I'll take her with me to the marine base. My superiors will understand when I explain. Ace won't remember her when he gets older, not if we keep them apart right away. Just to be safe, in case she does…" Gramps didn't finish that thought, but it didn't need to be voiced to be understood. "We won't tell him he has a sister. Don't mention Maven around him. We'll introduce them again when they're older, if Maven starts to recover."

"Sir, it's a terminal illness! The survival rate is zero, she won't rec—"

"MAVEN WON'T DIE BECAUSE OF A LACK OF WILL!" Gramps shouted back at her.

I stayed seated near the door, looking down at my chubby hands. I flexed them, feeling the weakness in my child fingers. I wasn't blind or deaf, I knew what world I had fallen into. Perhaps if I had been born as anyone else's child, I wouldn't have known for a while. But it didn't take long for me to find out, not with Gramps and his recognizable face and name visiting every now and then. Not with Dadan and the bandits and their loud mouths, constantly bringing up exactly who Ace and I were the children of. Not with Ace and his unmistakable face, even as a toddler. Not with the size of the animals I would glimpse out in the forest on the mountain. Not with my memories of my past life as a huge, unfulfilled anime nerd.

I clenched my tiny fists as tightly as I could. Perhaps I would have lost hope in my last life, where things usually turned out for the worst and expectations or dreams were hardly fulfilled. In this world, logic had no place. In this world, potential had no bounds. So I allowed myself a tiny sliver of hope that I would survive. Whatever brought me back to life might have second guessed it's choice and decided to kill me again, but I would not go quietly. I would not let myself die pitifully again.

My tiny head swerved so I could look at my twin, who had climbed a kitchen counter to steal some food from the pantry. I might not be able to keep the disease from killing me, but in that moment my life's dream came to life. I would live until I was able to die the best death in the world. A worthy death, a badass death, a death I could be proud of. Even if it meant dying to save somebody else. I would make sure that, once I was returned to the pitch darkness of death, I could look back on my death in this world and smile. No more pitiful endings.

The heavy wood door slamming full force into my head made be groan. I felt like that badass promise I had just made myself was already crumbling. This was just too much. I was going to die because my stupid grandfather slammed open the door too hard. It was death-by-door. Humiliating! I could feel the blood dripping down my face as I instinctively let out a loud, sharp wall of pain that then caused Ace to slip from his perch on the counter and fall on the ground with a hunk of meat in his hands.

He couldn't even eat meat on the bone yet, the idiot.

"AHH! MAVEN! DON'T DIE, GRAMPS IS HERE!" I could feel the old man's callused hands pick me up with more care than I thought it was possible for the guy to muster up. I was dwarfed in his giant hands, but I felt safe when I stared into his grizzled face and soft eyes filled with worry and kindness.

"Yowa… fawlt… gweezah…" I mumbled through my clumsy toddler lips. His hands stilled. The doctor, not sensing the danger, gently prodded my head before taking out what I figured was a roll of bandages.

"It's just a cut. Really, being hit that hard she should have gotten much worse. I have no idea how she's so resilient. She'll just need a bandage, mr. Garp." She ignored Ace's soft sobs. She probably already knew he was only bruised from his fall.

"Her…" Gramps muttered, hands shaking. "HER FIRST WORDS ARE 'YOUR FAULT, GEEZER?!'" He yelled in indignation. He shook my body in his hands, obviously struggling to keep his grip loose and his shakes controlled so he didn't actually hurt my frail body. "YOU ARE BARELY ABLE TO WALK, HOW CAN YOU ALREADY BE SO DISRESPECTFUL YOU BRAT?!"

Ace was definitely not hurt that badly, because I could hear the little asshole chuckling softly from the general direction of the kitchen behind me. Only a year old and already laughing at my expense. Jerk.

"MR. GARP! She's just a sick and injured toddler! Don't hurt her even more! You're gonna kill her at this rate!"

When Gramps finally calmed down enough to stop shaking me, he let the doctor clean and bandage my cut before he settled me in the crook of his arm. "Oy, Dadan. Grab the brat's stuff and put it in a bag for me."

"I'm not your—"

"DO IT NOW!"

"Of course Garp!" The large woman scrambled off to gather up the small amount of things she used to care for me. The term 'care' being used very loosely. I was met with Gramps' grizzled old face again as he turned me so I was looking into his soft eyes once more.

"We'll bulk you up, kid. You'll be the strongest girl in the world, you'll live until you're old and wrinkled and still sinking pirate ships with one hand, and you'll prove to the world that not even death can kill you. You'll be an Admiral! No, Fleet Admiral! Strike fear into the hearts of criminals everywhere!" I could still feel the slight, hidden tremor in his large fingers. "You'll live, kid. You'll live."

I let myself lean into his hold, closing my eyes as I silently agreed with him. I'd live. Maybe not until I was old and grey, but long enough.


	2. Chapter 2

I stared at the tiny dumbbells plopped in front of me, undoubtedly looking like a normal uninterested little kid. In reality, I was doing my best deadpan. I hit my grandfather with that same look, and turned to hobble away on my tiny legs.

He had taken me on his ship, making me practice walking on the rocking decks to build my sea legs and leg muscles at the same time. Little things while we were aboard to help me out. It had taken two months, but we finally reached Marine HQ, Marineford. And I was on the edge of the training field, the stench of sweat heavy in the air as new transfer recruits were whipped into shape a few yards away. And Garp was trying to have me lift dumbbells. Baby sized dumbbells.

I lunged with my slightly stronger calves towards his unprotected beard, vulnerable with him crouching so close to me, and yanked hard to see if that would knock some sense into him. Yes, he wanted me to build muscle. I understood that. But baby sized dumbbells? What the hell? I could still tell they were heavier than some normal-sized weights, smaller didn't mean lighter.

"OW! Ungrateful brat!" He easily tugged me off of his facial hair, setting me down gently as he frowned. "Come on, Maven. They're only twenty pounds, easy as pie!"

I glared at him, probably looking about as intimidating as a newborn puppy. Twenty pounds was heavier than I was!

"Dumb gweezah," I huffed, my voice slightly clearer. I had practiced this phrase often enough for it to be much more recognizable— it was necessary to know such accurate phrases for this man.

"GAHHHHH! YOU BRAT! FLICK OF LOVE!" Being too small for his fist of love, the vice admiral was undaunted. He had quickly come up with an alternative, flicking me on the forehead with his stupidly strong fingers and knocking me back a few feet. He was quickly made aware of how I was smarter than an average one year old, and had become less merciful with his punishments after that discovery.

It was risky being at Marine HQ. Very risky, which is the primary reason Garp hadn't even thought of bringing Ace or Luffy anywhere near it. If anyone found out who my biological father was, I'd be dead on the spot. But Gramps had obviously decided that making me strong enough to survive more than three years was worth the risk, since he couldn't stay away from headquarters that long.

"Tenty is too mutt," I tried to speak normally, but my tongue and lips were still clumsy. I hated my baby speak, but it always made Gramps coo softly. He did his best to hide his little coos of adoration from the Admirals and other Vice Admirals, but they all noticed. It was hard not to. Nonetheless, he got the gist of what I was trying to say.

"What do you mean, too much? It's practically nothing!" He balances both weights on his pinkie to try and make his point. I just crossed my tiny arms.

"Monstah," I replied, making his drop the weights as my comment hit him.

"Why you..!"

"Garp," a relaxed voice called out, it's owner obviously trying to hold back laughter. A tall man with dark skin and poofy black hair held back by a black bandana over the top of his head cane strolling in. His appearance was younger, but I could still recognize him from my fairly-fresh memories of the manga and anime. I only remembered his Admiral name, Aokiji.

The tall man sauntered over, kneeling next to Garp to look at me. The older man huffed, but smiled a bit.

"Maven, this is Kuzan. He's a Vice Admiral," Gramps softly told me. Vice admiral? I hummed, rocking back and forth slightly as I let myself examine the man. He obviously hadn't been promoted yet. This was such an odd thing for me to see. Gramps looked over at Kuzan. "She's smarter than your average brat her age. You can talk to her like you'd talk to ten year old, at the least."

I felt a little indignant at that statement. Just because I couldn't reply very well didn't mean I only had the brainpower of a ten year old. But that didn't really matter. Kuzan nodded, dangling one of the little dumbbells over the ground with one pinkie. Stupid strong-ass Monsters, I had barely been able to lift twenty pounds as an adult in my past life!

"I heard. Someone as young as her shouldn't be able to talk so well," he said warmly. Heh, warmly. Devil fruit power joke. "But even a monster kid wouldn't be able to lift twenty pounds right away, let alone forty. You should start with five."

 _That's still too much!_ I thought, but resigned myself to my fate. Maybe my genes would help me do this stupid impossible task.

"Here. I thought you'd go overboard when I heard why you were bringing a baby here, so I brought some," he said, holding out two dumbbells, the same size as the ones Gramps had given me, with the numbers "2.5" on one side of each of them. A total of five pounds. Well, better than a total of forty. He turned his gaze to me. "Better, Maven?"

"Bettah dan da gweezah," I replied sloppily, reaching for one tiny weight as the skinny man laughed.

"That's quite a vocabulary for a baby!"

"Stop being so disrespectful, brat! Flick of Love!" Gramps flicked me hard across the forehead again, sending me backwards before I could grab the tiny weight. I stubbornly got up, stuck my tongue out at him, and ignored the throbbing in my head as I walked forward to try lifting one of Kuzan's weights. Both men watched with an odd kind of anticipation, as if watching a toddler try to lift a tiny ass dumbbell was actually exciting. It even looked like they were holding their breaths. Well, gramps did. Kuzan looked vaguely tired, even with the avid attention he was paying me.

My small hands gripped the weight close to either end, and I instinctively widened my stance to try and lift it. I pulled, and pulled. I managed to lift it a tiny bit off the ground before I lost my balance, losing my grip and falling back on my butt.

"Good good!" Gramps said loudly, barking out a laugh, despite how he had wanted me to try to carry many times more than that just five minutes earlier. He seemed genuinely happy that I was trying to get stronger.

"Hey. This isn't any place to raise a brat, Garp," I decided to label that voice as the voice of a guy with a stick seriously far up his ass. I looked up and my whole body stilled as I realized how right my assessment was as I stared at the cold and imposing form of Akainu.

"Sakazuki," gramps greeted blandly, clearly not liking this man as much as Kuzan. "This is my granddaughter, Maven. Maven, this is Vice Admiral Sakazuki."

"Azzhowl," I brazenly insulted the man, pointing a finger at him. Sakazuki froze, his glare hardening.

"What the hell are you teaching her, Garp?!"

"That wasn't me," Garp snapped back. His gentle pat on my head broke the tense atmosphere a bit as he suddenly grinned. "She's just a very good judge of character! Bwahahaha!" Gramps settled down quickly though. "It's probably something she picked up. She's very smart for a little brat. I found her abandoned back on Dawn Island and adopted her, but I can't leave her with her caretakers anymore," Garp glanced at me, then back to Sakazuki. "She's sick, Sakazuki. The doctor said she'd die in a couple years, but the disease eats at her muscles so I am gonna train her until she's got so much muscle mass that the disease won't affect her like the doctor said it would!" Gramps threw a fist in the air. "Then she'll be strong enough to beat all your asses and become Fleet Admiral! Yeah, she'll be stronger than any of you bastards! Bwahahahaha!"

Kuzan clearly hadn't been told just how bad my illness was or how much time the doctor had given me, because I caught him eyeing my with a slightly surprised expression on his face before looking back at Gramps.

"Oi, Garp," he called out, his voice soft but firm. Gramps and Sakazuki had started arguing about something, but both were silenced by Kuzan's sudden call. "What disease does she have, exactly?"

Garp was silent, and moved from where he had stood up to sit next to me again. He let out a loud, deep sigh that even I could feel the despair in.

"It's Usurper's disease. The king killer," he said softly.

"The illness that nobody survives," Sakazuki chimed in, arms crossed. Even he seemed slightly affected by the news, though it was probably just from shock. I doubted the man had a sympathetic bone in his body. "Ends eras. Usurps the legacies of anyone who is diagnosed with it. Nobody can live past that, Garp. It will be better if you hand off the brat to some orphanage so it won't distract you anymore, it's a goner."

"Azzhowl," I repeated, startling two of the three men with my interruption. I shakily stood back up, and put my hands on my hips. "I will lib. I will lib an I will kick yoo."

Gramps burst into proud tears, picking me up with a burst of laughter. "You heard her, Sakazuki! She'll at least live long enough to land a kick on you! Bwahahahahaha! She's a natural born fighter!"

Well. I wasn't going to just die and let that asshat kill my twin brother. If nothing else, that's one part of the manga that I would change in this world.

—

By age three, I could lift fifteen pounds with each arm. Considering that was almost the same as my weight of slightly over thirty pounds, I figured I should stop trying to apply the logic that governed the world I had been born in before. It wasn't worth the headache. That was also the year that Luffy was born. Gramps took me to Dawn Island for the first time since he took me away, and introduced me to the little baby that I knew would grow into someone goddamn scary amazing. And dumb.

I stood on my tiptoes, looking at the tiny infant curled up asleep in the crib.

"That's your brother, Luffy," Gramps said for the hundredth time. He scooped me up into his lap. "I'll have to take trips over here once a year or a little more to train him, he has to be a strong marine too," I nodded. He did the same for Ace, dragging me with him but leaving me in Makino's care until it was time to leave again. "Just like usual, it would be too dangerous leaving you at HQ alone, so you'll come with me those times too, alright?" I nodded. Gramps had gotten a good enough handle on my intelligence to know to speak to me like an adult, even if I couldn't always reply like one. According to the psychologists and tutors he had to check me out, I had an almost-eidetic memory and a firm grasp of a lot of basic education checkpoints. I obviously had purposely screwed up some answers so that I wouldn't draw too much attention, but it was clear that I already had at least a fifth grade equivalent education, which was all Gramps figured I needed. Other than running me through the basics once a while to make sure I didn't forget anything, he left me alone with schooling and instead focused on training.

That also meant that he had bluntly told me about my condition and my father. It was agreed between the both of us that I'd have to work hard to survive and stay hidden at the same time, especially now that Gramps knew I understood.

"You'll have to help him get stronger too. I'll have no choice but to train you both at the same time, so make sure you guys help each other out."

"Got it, geezer."

"Brat!" His shout woke up Luffy, making him cry loudly. "Shit, see what you did, Maven!"

"Not sorry."

—

By the time I was nine, I knew I was fucking strong. For a kid, but still. I had even begun weapons training, on Gramp's order. He had had me look at a rack of weapons (lacking any firearms besides water guns) to test out what worked for me best. I liked the daggers, but decided they would be my backup weapon. Unlike other women, I couldn't allow myself to focus on speed and agility. I had to try to push through the one major weakness that everyone agreed women shared; lack of physical strength compared to men. It wasn't about aesthetics, or wanting to be badass, or wanting to be able to hold my own against the men in this world. It was sheer necessity. I needed a weapon that would force my body to maintain a high muscle mass, for my lifespan's sake.

So I had pointed to the full-sized battle axe on the wall. It wasn't even part of the rack of weapons Gramps had been showing me. He got a real good laugh, one filled with seventy percent pride and thirty percent mocking, before handing me two heavy but small hatchets to start with.

It wasn't far into my tenth year that it happened. I had my hatchets (designed to look exactly like miniature battle axes so I could get used to the design) strapped to my back. They were dull, so I wouldn't accidentally hurt myself or anyone else with them.

And Gramps had just finished bringing us to Dawn Island for the first time in over a year, a training trip to Luffy far overdue.

I loved visiting the little boy, but I didn't let myself get too close. I couldn't. I was going to die, there was no reason for me to get close enough for my death to break him.

I ran through the peaceful streets of Foosha village, a smile on my face. "LUFFY!" The details of the Anime had begun to rust in my head, still there but ignored because of my idiocy, so I didn't realize what the timing would mean. "LUFFY! TRAINING TIME! HURRY AND HIDE FROM THE GEEZER!"

"ACK!" I heard a familiar voice come from Makino's bar. Not long after my call, the boy ran out of the building. "Thanks for the warning Maven! You go that way, I'll go this way!" We ran in opposite directions, but not before I saw it.

Luffy had a scar under his eye!

I skidded to a stop, face paling. Ohhhh. That's what I get for ignoring my memories from my past life.

Feeling my balance suddenly disrupted, I squeaked. Gramps had picked me up by my collar, a squirming Luffy in his other hand.

"BWAHAHAHA! It's a lifetime too soon for you brats to escape from me! Bwahahahaha!" He threw up over his shoulder. "Now! What should I do this time?"

"You shitty gramps! Stop trying to kill us!" Luffy I shouted as he squirmed, while I just contented myself with lying like a sack of potatoes compliantly over Gramp's back. I knew it was futile to try to fight back, the guy was a monster.

"Show some respect you shitty grandson!" Gramps shouted back, dropping Luffy and lifting his now-freed arm. "FIST OF LOVE!"

With a new bump on Luffy's head, Gramps huffed and out his free hand on his hip. "If you want to be strong marines, you have to train hard! You can't blame me for trying to make you strong."

"I'm not gonna be a marine! I'm gonna be the king of pirates!"

I closed my eyes, trying to endure the way Gramp's hold had suddenly tightened around me.

"Ah! Gramps, you're gonna kill Maven!"

Gramps reached out to lift Luffy up and throttle him, but Luffy's neck stretched until his feet were on the ground again. Seeing it, even though I was expecting it, made me slightly queasy. There was a huge difference between seeing something in real life and seeing the loony drawing of it, his neck stretching so unnaturally was disturbing, even Gramps was caught off guard for a moment, gawking. I let out a squeal, Gramp's hold around me had loosened and I could feel myself slipping. The shitty geezer didn't seem to notice, and I continued to shout until I finally slipped off his tall ass frame and landed in the dirt, a plume of dust rising up around me.

Within minutes, we had not only gotten the explanation of Luffy's scar, him eating the Gomu Gomu no mi, and the visits from Red Hair Shanks, but we had also begun our trek up to Mount Corbo.

I looked around at the scenery, the jungle I hadn't laid eyes on since I was one. I ignored the bickering between the two Monkeys, trying hard not to stare at the way Luffy's cheek stretched as Gramps dragged him by it. I hadn't said a word since the trip began, walking silently by Gramp's side.

Luffy hadn't tried to talk to me, either. Other than warning him about Gramps showing up or saying something important during training every now and then to save his skin, I hardly spoke to him. He still tried to speak to me, tried to befriend me and it killed me to ignore him. He would probably have been trying to talk to me just then, too, but he was too busy arguing with the geezer.

I inched away from the two when we reached the house on the mountain, listening to Dadan with one ear as I pulled out the staff Gramps made me train with to prepare me for using a full sized battle axe. It retracted into a small size so I could carry it on my back with my hatchets. Pulling it apart to it's full length, I began practicing my basic spins and strikes with it as the adults spoke.

"WHAT?! You want me to take them BOTH?!" Dadan's rough voice rang, making me pause in my drills. I hadn't been expecting that, I thought Gramps was going to take me back to HQ. I looked over at them curiously, listening closer as I started back up on my practice.

"Not only your grandson, but your throwing Maven back here too?!"

"Well… you can make a choice. Would you rather live the rest of your lives behind bars, or raise these kids? I've overlooked as many crimes of yours as there are stars in the sky! Bwahahaha!"

Well, I don't want to be captured, but sometimes I wonder if prison might be better than this. I've already got my hands full with Ace, you want me to take your grandson and that girl too?! I know Maven's a monster by now, being personally trained by you all this time, and that kid's probably another freak just like her and Ace!"

Dadan's words made me twitch, frowning at her. I had been teased a lot by the younger marines back at Headquarters. They would call me the Little Freak, or the Baby Monster when they thought I wasn't listening. The few that knew about my illness would call me a lost cause, a waste of space and of Garp's time. Granted, those people didn't say that as often since I turned five and startled all the doctors at HQ with how healthy I was given the circumstances, but the harm was still there. I wasn't very good at dealing with insults or negative views others had of me, but I was quickly developing a hard shell for those things. Probably not quickly enough though, judging by how hard her simple words still hit me.

That was when I heard the whistling sound of something being thrown. My eyes widened, recognizing the sound from Gramps' training, but not having a good enough handle on my reflexes to dodge it this late. The rock landed soundly on my head, knocking me down and my practice staff out of my hands. I grunted as I landed hard on the rocky ground, hands stinging where pebbles cling to my flesh. A few feet away, Luffy yelled at the same time as a wet sound met my ears.

"EW! SPIT! GROSS!" I turned over and sat up in time to see Luffy wipe a very gross looking glob of spit from his cheek, looking just as disgusted as I felt. "HEY! WHO'RE YOU?!" I spent a brief moment marveling at the lungs that the Monkey family had. Honestly, I would have been fine if I had had a set of lungs that strong in my past life. Still, they didn't make listening to Luffy very easy, he got worked up enough to yell over almost everything.

"Hey there, Ace."

"Wah! Ace, you're back!"

Gramps' calm greeting was followed by the bandits all yelling together, surprised at Ace's early return. I just stood up, looking over the scrappy boy, covered in scrapes and dirt with a bloody pipe leaned over one shoulder, his toned arms crossed. I froze. I had never been looked at with such hatred before, and even if I knew half of it was his own self hatred it still didn't help soften the glare. I clenched my jaw, looking away without a word as I grabbed my staff and started my exercises again with my back turned to him. He didn't need to get close to me, either. We might be twins, but I knew I was very likely to die for him. No need for my death to make his self hatred any worse, it would be best if he didn't like me when that time came.

"He's Ace, he's three years older than you just like Maven. You're gonna live with both of them now, so you'd better get along!"

_Shiiing. Shiiing. Shiiiing._

I kept slicing my pole through the air, wracking my brain for ways that I could avoid the two of them. Ace would get better, he only needed Luffy and Sabo. Luffy didn't need me either, the three of them were fine and happy in the manga where I didn't exist. They'd be fine without be talking to them now, too. Gramps turned away from the two boys, walking over and kneeling by me. He made sure the others weren't in ear shot before putting a hand on my wrist to stop my swings, and whispering to me.

"Some marines were getting suspicious of your background. I was going to drop you off here the whole time, I just didn't think I'd have to bring that brat of a grandson with us. I've been telling them for the past year or so that you were getting strong enough for me to leave you back here on Dawn to keep up your training on your own, so it won't be odd to them that I've finally done it. Try to get along with Ace, you remember who he is right?"

"As if I could forget," I whispered back. I saw him in the mirror every day. My hair was longer and often held back in a ponytail, but our skin was the same tone and we had the same eyes and freckles. It wouldn't surprise me if he guessed right away that we were twins, we were nearly identical (well, we _were_ identical twins after all so it shouldn't have been that much of a shock). I was slightly taller than him, girls usually hitting their growth spurt earlier, but that was the only major difference besides our gender. "But it's better if he doesn't find out about me. You know that. I know that," I looked to the staff in my hands. "The doctors only gave me another two years. As hard as I try, they can't be wrong _every_ time they diagnose me." Gramps gave me a hard stare, looking deep into my eyes. I returned the stare, not backing down from his sharp gaze.

"You're too grown up for a kid, Maven. Being with those two will do you good, you need to be around other kids too. Don't give up. Fight for your life. For every second of it. Don't let the slightest moment slip away if you can help it."

I looked down, then nodded at him. "I won't die yet. I won't let myself die yet."

He nodded, stood up, said a few distant goodbyes, and left. I stood there for a moment, watching him leave until I could no longer see him through the dense vegetation of the forest. He wasn't perfect, far from it. He was violent, and dense, and stupid sometimes for sure, his training sessions were straight from Hell and he was a huge meat head. But he had taken care of me for nine years, no matter how many times people told him to give up because I was a lost cause that was bound to keel over at any moment. I looked down at my staff, and I focused on the weight of the hatchets on my back. They were proof that he was trusting me to live. Proof that he thought it was possible for me to survive this disease.

"Oi. Dadan," I called out after I was sure Gramps was gone, glancing briefly over at the barbarian woman as I started once again to swing my staff. "What's dinner gonna be like?" I figured it wouldn't hurt to subtly help out Luffy. The sooner he learned about the get-meat-yourself rule of the house, the better off he'd be.

The hulking, masculine woman crossed her arms. She was clearly not happy to have three brats to look after now.

"You get one bowl of rice and one cup of water for dinner every day. If you want anything else, you have to catch it or find it yourself. I don't want to look after you brats, and I'm not gonna coddle you. If you can't even get your own food, you'll just have to deal with the bare minimum! And starting tomorrow, you two will be doing all the chores around the house—"

"Okay," Luffy and I chimed together. I blinked, not expecting him to answer at the same time as me. He beamed a smile at me right as he noticed the same thing, making me look away and compact my staff again to slip it into its holster on my back. I didn't reply.

"SO EASY?! You were supposed to cry!"

I walked away as Luffy answered them with something nonchalant, and he obviously mentioned his dream to be a pirate because I heard Ace walking off not long after Luffy started talking. Hurried steps after Ace signaled that Luffy had already started his first attempt at befriending the standoffish male.

At least he hadn't followed me, that would have been a problem.

I had already planned to test my luck catching something big enough to slip some meat to Luffy, but I didn't know how the animals on Mount Colubo would measure up to any of the things I had caught and killed whenever Gramps had thrown me in a jungle for "survival training."

After a few minutes, I was thoroughly lost. I wasn't too concerned, confident in my ability to camp. I'd end up back at the bandit's house eventually, my instinct with direction was pretty good as long as I was on land. I walked over to a tree, sitting down on a large root sticking partially out of the ground. I took all three of my weapons, staff (in its compressed state) and my two two hatchets. I hoped I would get back in time for dinner, so I could subtly make sure that Luffy got some of what I caught, but I knew that he'd be fine even if I didn't. That certainty took away any sense of urgency that I had, allowing me to relax as I weighed my hatchets in my hand and waited for something to come close to me.

"Oi. Can you even use those?" I looked up to see who had spoken to me, and was slightly surprised to see a little blond kid who was unmistakeable. His top hat, goggles, and the rest of his peculiar steampunk styled outfit stood out like a sore thumb. Sabo. I blinked at him, looking back down at my battle-axe styled blades before looking back up. The boy jumped from the branch he had been perched on and walked over so he was able to look me in the eye better.

"Yeah," I answered simply, spinning one of the weapons in my hand and catching it easily. "My Gramps taught me, but these are just for training. I plan on using a battle axe one day, but I'm obviously not tall enough for one yet. These hatchets are supposed to let me get used to how to properly strike with the design of the blades, how to aim it to get the best result. The staff is so I can get used to the size of a battle axe," I put the hatchet down, grabbing the staff and stretching it out to it's full size once I stood up, showing him how tall it really was. I have it one good spin and practice strike into the open air. "So that I can learn the reach of a full sized battle axe. Once I'm old enough, I should be able to combine these skills to learn how to use one a lot easier than if I just hopped into it."

Sabo gave me a strange look, making me blush in embarrassment when I realized I had rambled. I slid the staff back into it's shorter length, putting it and my hatchets back in their holsters on my back. "What?" I asked defensively.

"You're a girl! How will you get strong enough to use a battle axe?! Why would you even want to, there are tons of weapons that are easier to use!"

I made a face. He sounded genuinely concerned and confused. I huffed out a breath of air, turning away. "It doesn't concern you," I told him stiffly. "I just need to be strong. I need to be physically strong, not just fast or anything. I need to be the strongest woman in the world."

"Why?"

I looked back to see Sabo with his head tilted. I clenched my jaw.

"Where am I?" I asked instead of answering his question. "I am supposed to be back at a bandit's house before nightfall. I wandered off to hunt but I have no idea how far I walked."

"Bandit's house?" Sabo's eyes widened. "You're far from there. You're not that far from Grey terminal."

Grey terminal? Grey termina— oh. The dump. Shit, I hadn't meant to go out that far, didn't even have any idea how I had made it that far on my own. I sighed, turning back in the direction I came from. "Well. I'll just wander back this way until I get there. Bye."

"Hey! Wait a sec!"

I ignored him, quickly running through the forest to get away. I had no idea what had suddenly made him want to talk to me, but I figured it couldn't be good. I looked too similar to Ace, and Sabo was the smartest one out of the trio of future brothers. I dodged around giant tree roots and leaves and low hanging branches, hearing Sabo trying to follow me. I tried to pick up my pace, knowing the blond boy had much more experience with this jungle than I did. Eventually the sounds died off, and I slowed to a walk. It took a minute before I had to cover my mouth to stifle a bubble of hysterical laughter.

Not only did I look just like Ace, but I had just ditched Sabo the same way Ace ditched Luffy! I didn't even realize I had been doing it until I had slowed down enough to think. Perhaps being his twin had made me more similar to him that I thought.

A low growl in the grass next to me made me instantly still. I took a slow, deep breath as I slowly turned my head to where the sound had originated from.

Staring back at me… was an injured wolf. Separated from his pack, and desperate. But still, oh so dangerous. He might have been littered in scrapes and cuts, but he seemed to ignore them all as if they weren't there. He didn't limp, and he didn't whine. He looked like starvation was all that drove him.

A starving wolf wouldn't give much meat, but it was better than nothing. I slowly drew my hatchets, keeping eye contact with the wolf so I could see the moment it moved. More quickly than I could dodge, the wolf leaped out with his claws raised at me. I threw my hatchets up as quickly as I could, one of my feet sliding back to give me better footing as I used my hard earned muscle mass to shove the beast away by his front hooves.

I didn't give it a second to rest, running forward and bringing one hatchet down over it's neck with adrenaline fueled strength. I had to hack a few more times, blood splattering my face and neck, until it stilled. My efforts earned me some troublesome claw marks on my arms and legs from the wolf's dying struggles, but I knew I could use the boost to my endurance. I wiped my bloody hatchet off on the wolf's own fur before slipping both blades back onto my back. I shook out my arms and legs.

"Well. I didn't train with any weights today yet, so here we go!" I bent down, doing my best to choke down my instinct to flinch from the limp corpse and wrap one small arm around the underside of the wolf's body. With one swift heave, I brought the heavy carcass over one shoulder. It took me a moment to balance, my feet slipping on the loose pebbles on the ground for a moment before I got used to the weight and turned around. It would be a struggle to carry it all the way back to the bandit hideout, especially when I had no idea how far away I was, but it would help me build up strength. That was all I needed.

An hour later, a few minutes after sunset, I stumbled back to the house. "Oy! I'm back!" I yelled. I had switched shoulder twice during my trip, and reached out with my trembling free hand to grip the door handle, pushing it open. Dadan and the other bandits, along with Ace, stared at me. I didn't blame them. I had wolf blood on my face and I was a little ten year old girl with a wolf over her shoulder. "Oy. I've been walking with this thing for an hour, you better make something good with it," I snarked to Dadan, who took my kill slowly, as if she didn't believe it was there.

"I can't believe you're back so soon. You don't even know these woods yet!"

"Gramps trained me by dumping me in a jungle every now and then," I told them casually, walking further into the house. "You got a towel? I want to get the wolf blood off of me."

I was eventually able to find a towel and get it wet with a little soap and water, cleaning off my face, neck, and shoulders from the grime of my kill. When I walked back out, dinner was already being served. I quickly sat down, taking my lion's share of my wolf and pairing it with my rice as I scarfed my food down. I had a much bigger appetite than I had in my last life, probably because of all the exercise I did and the calories I burnt building muscle. My appetite almost matched Ace's, as our piles of scraps soon seemed to be warring against one another for height. Eventually mine lost, but only because my wolf had less meat to give than Ace's buffalo.

"Where's Luffy?" I finally asked once I was stuffed and still hadn't seen the boy. I wasn't too worried, figuring that Ace had simply gotten the younger boy lost earlier in the day because of my stunt earlier to warn Luffy about the dinner situation. He was resilient, he'd find his way back eventually.

That was when that exact boy threw open the door, panting. He was covered in scratches and cuts and scrapes, worse than I was. Mine had all scabbed over and I had disinfected them already, so I left them uncovered to heal. Perhaps having more daylight available had helped him find his way back faster. Too bad he still had to spend his first dinner without meat, I hadn't thought to save any for him since he hadn't been present.

"Wah! I didn't catch anything!" He saw the huge pile of bones in front of me and Ace. "Ahh! Even you caught some meat, Maven?! No fair!"

"Totally fair," I replied easily, shrugging. "I caught it on my own. My effort, my food," Luffy huffed, but didn't argue. Ace's stare felt like it was burning a hole into the side of my head. He had been staring at me the whole time we had been eating, and my patience was at its end.

"WHAT?!" I finally yelled at him. He didn't even twitch, frowning at me.

"How the hell did a girl like you catch a wolf? And why do you look like me?" His tone was sharp and accusing, and made me stiffen.

"Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I'm weak!" I hissed at him as Luffy sat down to devour his meager meal.

"But girls aren't as strong as guys."

"That's not true! It's harder for a girl to become as strong as a guy, but it isn't impossible! It takes a lot of hard work, and a girl might need the right genes to build up muscle like that, but it isn't impossible!"

"Hmph. You didn't answer my other question, hag."

"Hag?!" I took a deep breath, calming myself down before I blew up too much. When I replied, my voice was calm and frosty. "How should I know?" I lied easily. I glanced at Dadan, who returned my stare evenly. Good, she knew I was lying. I looked back at Ace. He had caught the glance Dadan and I had shared, and just looked more suspicious.

"The old hag said that Gramps was throwing you _back_ here. What did she mean? I don't remember you being here before."

I could hear Dadan gulp, but the manly woman quickly hid it and straightened up to answer for me.

"Maven was born around the same time you were. Garp dropped her off here with you, but he had to take her away again when you two were only a year old. Hell if I know why!"

I finished off my glass of water, silently praising Dadan's passable ability with lying. Ace seemed to buy it, and stormed out the house again. Luffy, of course, followed him. I sighed, not quite feeling like following the two idiots out into the forest at night. Instead, Dadan led me up to the room that the three of us would share and I flopped onto my flimsy futon to sink into sleep. I was awoken briefly, a few hours later, by the door opening. I cracked one eye, only to see that it was Ace. Reassured, I easily slipped back into my slumber.

One day down. Seven years to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! As said before, I have this story up on Fanfic.net under the username Catthhay, same as on here. I am much further along there, so you can check it out on there if you want to read more. Chances are my updates to Second Guessed will remain faster on FF than on A03, but that’s just because I actually wrote 55k+ words in a week for this story and it all went up there first, soooo. Yeah. 
> 
> As you can tell, I went crazy with this story and I love it to bits. I hope you do too!


	3. Chapter 3

It seemed the fate of this world wasn't going to take all the changes I tried to make lying down. The next day at the bandit's hideout went similar to the first. Luffy ran out after Ace as Dadan called out after him about him skipping his chores. The fat barbarian looked down at me, her orange hair matched with her blush of rage making her look like a large clown.

"Boss, you can just make the girl do all his chores. No problem," one of the bandits tried to say to calm the old hag down, interrupting whatever she had been about to say to me. Dadan stood up, hands on her hips.

"No, I can't. Garp'd kill me if he ever found out she was doing normal chores, and I know the little brat would rat me out to him," she looked down at me again, mouth curled in a frown. "Go on, do whatever impossible training Garp wants you to do, girl. And bring back more meat today!"

I made sure to avoid going too far into the woods this time. No need to run into Sabo again. I trained with my staff and hatchets. Killing the wolf the day before had been mostly luck, my hatchet blades were dull and only killed the beast because of how much force I had used. But I would need to be stronger, always stronger. Ace killed game with his bare hands or that metal pole he carried, didn't he? Then I'd do the same. I had to be as strong as Ace at the very least, and then stronger. That would be my goal for a while, I decided.

It took me longer than the day before, but I managed to kill a giant python that had snuck up on me— just in time, since I had somehow gotten into the woods near Grey Terminal again. I could hear Ace and Sabo's voices just out of sight, and took the snake that I had bludgeoned to death with stabs from my staff, slung as much of the body over my small shoulders as I could, and ran off as fast as my legs could go.

And got lost.

I had been so focused on getting away from the boys that I hadn't been paying attention to where I was heading, and had to turn completely around to get back to the bandit's house. My detour made it so that I ended up getting there at the exact same time as Ace. But no Luffy anywhere in sight.

This time, Dadan noticed and brought it up since she didn't have the shock of me killing a wolf to distract her.

"You two came back alone again? Where's Luffy? Wasn't he with you, Ace?"

"I dunno." The boy replied, barely sparing me a cold glance before walking off. I gave Dadan my catch, and headed in the same direction. It was the only way to reach our rooms, after all. I frowned when I saw Ace leaning against the wall near the entrance to the main room where Dadan and the bandits were, but ignored it.

"—This is what they mean when they say bad weeds grow fastest! They're both devil spawn, you know?! You know what the government would do to us if they found out?! And the girl's a lost cause, to boot! A waste of our energy, if you ask me!"

I froze. I hadn't been listening until she said that, and it left me paused at the bottom of the staircase, one leg raised to take the first step but held in the air from shock. My hand, which had been on the railing, tightened. I could feel Ace behind me, feel the weight of his stare on my back, but neither of us said a word. I took a deep breath, and went up the short flight of stairs to enter our room.

I thought Ace might wait until I was passed out to come in, but he didn't. He had been closer than I thought, making me spin around when I heard the door close only to see him leaning against it.

I wanted to speak. I wasn't the type of person who was good at being silent, but I figured I would just have to practice at it. I could last a day or two without saying much, but usually Luffy was the only one trying to get me to talk. Ace's burning stare was an obstacle I had no practice resisting, and I had to turn away to avoid asking him why the hell he was staring. I made it look like I was only getting my futon ready.

"You my sister or something?" The question made me go still again, just like Dadan's words had. I cursed that woman's loud mouth, turning my head to look at him a bit over my shoulder. When I didn't immediately answer, he continued.

"Dadan said we were _both_ devil spawn. And you look too similar to me for that to be a coincidence."

"Shut up," I hissed, clenching my bedsheets.

"Well? Are you?"

"Hell if I know," I lied, clenching my jaw and turning my head away from him again.

"You know something," he kept going. "I saw you whispering with that shitty Gramps yesterday. Are you my sister?"

"You just won't give up, will you?" I turned and flopped on my bed, Ace and I staring at each other with— I couldn't believe I was punning at a time like this— twin glares. His jaw clenched, and I somehow could tell that he had asked that same question to himself about Luffy, probably earlier that very day. "Just because I look like you doesn't mean I'm your sister. I could be your cousin, or I could be a kid that that man had with some other woman. Hell if I know, I never had enough free time with Gramps training me every day for me to ask," the lie (though the part about training was true enough) fell easily from my lips. "But Gramps let it slip that I was related somehow. To both of you," the best lie was at least partially truth, I reminded myself as I let just a little bit of honesty into my statement.

It was funny, how neither of us had to say Gol D. Roger's name to know that he was the guy we were talking about. Ace huffed. I guessed that he knew he wouldn't get anything else from me, since he flopped into his futon the very next moment. We slipped under our ratty covers and ignored each other until we fell asleep.

It took a week for Luffy to come back. After the second day he was missing, I had set out to look for him. As a result, the amount of meat at dinner had dropped since I had only bothered catching small things like rabbits after a day of not finding any traces of the rubber boy. On the seventh day, only an hour after I set out, I found him. He was running through the woods with a few wolves trailing behind him.

I walked in with a wolf on either shoulder for dinner that night, a beat up Luffy limping behind me.

"Maven that was so cool!" He said for the millionth time. "You're so strong! I didn't even hear you, and then you came out and you were like— Booom! And pow! And the wolves were like, grrr and hisss, and you were—"

I let him continue his story as I shoveled food in my mouth. I had gotten better at ignoring Ace, and my practice with Luffy came in handy as I managed to not say a word to the boy even as he praised and thanked me. I went to bed right after dinner.

—*—*—*—*—*

One month after arriving at the Bandit's house.

The jungle's many sounds were beautiful. I let the music of nature sink into my ears, take over my thoughts. I cleared my mind, filling it with that song, so I could focus on my training. I had found a nice spot. It was a little close to Grey Terminal (I still had no idea how I constantly found myself wandering there, even when I tried not to. I ignored the self depreciating voice in my head that said that it was because I was trash) but experience had told me that Ace and Sabo never came out that far. They had never stumbled upon my little space, anyway.

I held a huge rock, not quite big enough to be called a boulder but definitely weighing at least a couple hundred pounds, and swung it. I would lift it over my head before bringing it down, stopping it once it reached hip level to repeat, never dropping it or relaxing my arms. It was a crude version of the sword training I had seen Zoro do in the comics, with his famous oversized weights.

"...two hundred and ninety-five. Two hundred and ninety-six… ninety-seven… ninety-eight…ninety-nine... Three hundred," I counted, finally letting the rock drop as I finished my reps with sweat clinging to the back of my neck, to my forehead and arms and back, and with my breath coming in gasps.

I dropped down onto my butt, letting myself rest for exactly ten seconds before I went to grab my staff.

"See? I told you. She trains like that every day, she's crazy!" A familiar, slightly raspy voice said from somewhere behind and above me. I jumped, startled to have company. My head swiveled up so fast that I almost gave myself whiplash, and I spotted two familiar scrappy boys perched on a very thick tree branch. It was at least as thick as I was tall, providing them a pretty good place to hide and sit without any difficulty.

"All those muscles will do nothing if you don't know how to fight," a certain freckle-faced boy called down to me. He sounded and looked disinterested, it probably hadn't been his idea to spy on me. We hadn't said more than a word or two to each other since that night that Dadan's stupid loud mouth almost revealed my secret.

"Wha— and what do you mean, ' _all the time,'_ Blondie?! How long have you been stalking me?!"

"Hey, don't just ignore me!"

"I wasn't stalking you! You ran away from me last time, so I thought I'd see what you were up to on my way to meet Ace…" my glare made both boys sweat. I was not pleased, I didn't enjoy being watched without knowing. It was creepy, but beyond that I could have ended up blowing my own cover without even knowing! I had a nasty habit of talking to myself out loud. "...fine, about two weeks," Sabo finally conceded. He dropped down, looking at me curiously. "You really do look like Ace, though. And you're strong too."

"Whatever," Ace's moody voice interrupted as he landed next to his blonde friend, hand in his pockets. "I bet that rock's hollow or something and isn't actually heavy. There's no way a girl could lift a normal rock that big," the moody brat quipped as he walked over to the stone I had been using for my weight lifting. He put both hands on either side, then lifted it up. He switched the rock to one hand, stumbling back slightly with the weight before getting himself balanced.

"Woah! This is actually pretty heavy. How the hell could a scrawny thing like you lift it three hundred times?!" He demanded as he dropped the rock down to cross his arms over his chest.

"Buzz off," I replied, looking away. It annoyed me. Three hundred reps, but I still couldn't hold the rock in one hand like he had. It made me feel inferior, it made me feel weak…

It terrified me.

What if I never caught up to Ace? What if my muscle mass was never enough, what if my female body didn't allow me to build up enough strength and I died before I got a chance to make any sort of difference in the timeline? What if I just dropped dead in an alleyway, dying in some stupid way again?

"Hey, hag, you listening?" I jumped back, not expecting Ace to have been so close to me. Looking at him from only a couple feet away, the closest we had ever gotten to each other so far, it was even easier to see the similarities. Our skin tones matched perfectly. Our freckles were the same shades and in most of the same places, our eyes were the same shape (though mine had longer lashes). My chin and lips were more feminine, sure, but even a fool (like Luffy) could tell we were related.

We stared into each other's eyes for a moment before I turned away. "Stop calling me hag. Dadan's a hag. _I'm_ a badass."

Ace snorted and Sabo chuckled, making me twitch. Okay, conversation time over, I decided. I grabbed my weapons, slung them on my back, and ditched the two. They didn't even try to follow me, probably because they had plans to go rob idiots to add money to their pirate-fund stash.

I lost myself to my training after that. I wrestled crocodiles and pythons, I lifted the biggest rocks or branches I could find. And I trained with my staff and hatchets for hours in the morning and before I went to bed.

It wasn't healthy, I knew that. But my own body was trying to kill me, so I figured that overworking was better than underworking. Shitty logic, but I was too terrified by my sudden reality check from Ace's strength to let myself rest. Eventually I found myself returning to the bandit's hideout even later than Luffy.

Then, I wouldn't get there until Luffy and Ace were both already asleep.

At the three month mark, I wasn't even returning to the hideout every night. I'd occasionally work myself so hard that I'd pass out and end up spending the night in the jungle.

—*—*—*—*—*

"Woah! This is even better than mine! How did you get so much money?!"

"GAH!" I sat up straight, woken from my slumber by the familiar voice of a certain blonde. I put a hand over my frantic heart, leveling a glare at both boys before taking a moment to look around. I hadn't climbed a tree the day before. How had I ended up on the branch that Sabo and Ace hid their treasure at?

Think Maven, I ordered myself. I had been wrestling a crocodile at midnight… but that's where my memories stopped. I must have passed out from overworking again.

"Sabo found you in the river last night," Ace spoke up, making me look at him. He sat with one leg extended, the other bent at the knee with his arm resting over it while easily holding his metal pipe that he fought with. "You must have been really out of it. You don't sleep that deeply back at the hideout," he leveled a weak glare at his friend. "Probably should'a just let her drown, if she's stupid enough to fall asleep on a crocodile."

I stood up, checking to make sure all three of my weapons were accounted for as the boys spoke again about their treasure and how they were planning on using it for a pirate ship.

"Oi, badass hag," I twitched at Ace's new nickname for me. I still hadn't figured out how to react to it, and a part of me figured that that was Ace's plan the whole time. "You're not gonna tell a single person about our treasure, got it?! Just because Sabo brought you here doesn't mean we trust you. It means Sabo's an idiot."

"Hey!"

"If we find that you told anyone about our—"

"YOU GUYS ARE GONNA BE PIRATES?!" I stumbled, almost falling off the branch before I caught myself and looked down. Luffy was sitting on the ground by the tree, probably having decided to spy on us for a minute or two— the extent of his patience. "SO AM I!"

Oh boy. The expressions on Ace and Sabo's faces made me cover my mouth to hide a chuckle. They were so angry and in shock, the two emotions melding to give them the most hilarious faces I had ever seen.

"YOU TOO, MAVEN?!"

That question made me blink and stop laughing. I vaguely registered Sabo and Ace jumping down and starting to tie Luffy up to a tree, but I ignored it. Was I? I realized I didn't really have any plans set up for my future. The only thing I had been thinking about lately was training, training, training. I hadn't even spared a single thought towards what I was training _for._ Besides pure survival, anyway.

I inched over so my feet were hanging over the edge of the branch and watched the trio of boys below me. I didn't bother helping Luffy just yet, Ace and Sabo's blunt blows wouldn't hurt the rubber boy anyway. It wasn't until the boys talked about killing Luffy that I finally jumped down. But the question was still buzzing in my head— what did I want to do when I got older? Being a pirate sounded nice. Being a marine would be a nightmare, so immediate NO on that option. Maybe I'd just wander around, getting too close to a pirate crew would just hurt them eventually.

"Sabo! Kill him already!"

What are you talking about? You do it!"

I took out my staff, and promptly hit both idiots over the head. "SHUT UP ALREADY!" I yelled at both of them.

"MABEN!" Luffy blubbered through tears and snot. "WOO ARE MY HEWO!"

I glared at him, "you shut up too," I couldn't quite get the right tone. Luffy was too stupidly adorable for me to ever stay mad at for long, so whenever I yelled at him it always ended up… soft. Ace and Sabo glared up at me.

"Bitch! What was that for?!"

"Little boys should watch their language," I tutted at Ace, smiling teasingly at him. Abort! Abort! These boys were too fun, they'd corrupt me into being friends with them if I stayed. Abort! Ditch them all!

But I didn't get the chance.

"I heard voices from the forest! Sounds like kids…"

Oh shit. Not this crap already! Before Ace and Sabo could even finish ordering each other to untie the ropes, I was behind the tree pulling the knot free. "Come on!" I hissed at the three of them as I grabbed Luffy by the collar. "Let's go!"

"Over there!" Ace whisper-yelled, and Sabo and I leapt into the bushes Ace had pointed out, me dragging Luffy in behind us.

"Stay put," I told Luffy sternly.

"Okay." He took a step to the side. I yanked him back.

"Stay put!" I whispered again.

"Okay."

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. I opened them to tell him about how important it was for him to stay hidden, but he was gone.

"What the— I closed my eyes for less than a second!"

"Gah! Where'd he go?!" Ace and Sabo quietly panicked.

"LEMME GO YOU BASTARD!"

"How did he get captured?!" Ace and Sabo whispered to themselves in shock.

"Less than a second…" I muttered hopelessly, one hand covering my face. "It took less than a single goddamned second."

"HELP ME, MAVEN!"

Oh, oh that was different. I blinked as Ace and Sabo sighed with relief that he hadn't said either of their names. I just sat, dumbfounded. Me? I ignored him every day, why would he want _my_ help?

"Maven? You ever heard that name before?" The tall ugly guy, Porchemy if Ace and Sabo were right (there was no way I'd remember the name of someone so insignificant) asked the injured guys around him.

"Nah. But I wouldn't be surprised if it was another friend of those two bastard kids that took our stuff."

"Hmph," Porchemy snorted. "Worth a try, then. Hey kid," Porchemy looked back at Luffy, who stilled his struggles for a moment. "You know kids named Ace and Sabo?"

"He better not sell us out!" Ace whispered, panicked.

"Huh? N-nope! I definitely don't!"

Oh my god, he was a worse liar than the manga or anime could ever do justice for. He was whistling, and looking away, his phrasing was terrible and hesitant, his legs swung as he tried to look innocent— it was an insult to the art of lying. An insult.

Porchemy was similarly shocked at the boy's inability to lie. "Kuku!" He laughed once the shock wore off, a cold grin twisting up the corner of his mouth. "Well then. Ace stole some money from us and ran, you know where it is?"

"I… I dunno…" that was even worse than the last lie he tried to tell. I groaned in despair. Having to lie about my family for my whole life to avoid detection from the marines had made me hone my lying down to an art form. I was quite proud of it. What Luffy just tried to do almost _hurt_. Physically. It was _that_ painful to watch.

"Kukukuku! We'll just have to jog your memory then!"

"WHAT? HEY! LEMME GO! WHERE ARE YOU TAKING ME?! DAMN IT!"

I glanced over at the shocked, panicking faces of the two boys next to me before letting out a soft chuckle. I stood up, walking around behind them and slapping a hand each on one of their shoulders, leaning down so my face was between them. They gulped at the evil aura I was giving off. I couldn't decide whether to be pissed off or heavily amused, and it was easy to tell. On one hand, the boys had gotten Luffy into some serious trouble without trying to help and were only thinking about guarding their treasure. Plus, Luffy had been a stupid idiot that hadn't listened to me and gotten himself caught in _less than one goddamned second_. On the other hand, Ace and Sabo's faces were hilarious. And Luffy needed to show how he wouldn't betray the two other boys so that they could become friends.

I just wasn't sure I wanted that to happen with the whole tortured-for-hours thing left unchanged.

"Well boys," I said darkly. "He's in this shitty situation because of you, so let's go watch and wait for a chance to save him, shall we~?"

"W-w-we don't owe him anything!" Sabo protested, still trembling from the aura I was giving off.

"Yeah, Hag. The crybaby can save himself," Ace was doing a much better job of hiding his fear, managing to sound disinterested and grumpy like always. "I'm just worried that he'll snitch about where our treasure is. C'mon Sabo, let's go hide it somewhere else!"

Before I could grab them, both boys ran off to their treasure tree again, and started moving their loot. I grumbled under my breath.

"Those stupid greedy kids…" I mumbled as I took out my hatchets and spun them in my hands, heading towards the dump. "They'll see. They'll see what kind of person Luffy is… and they'll regret being so cold," the moment foul stench met my nose, I knew I was close. Sure enough, the Grey Terminal stood just over the next hill.

It smelled like decay, human and animal, of feces and wet wood and garbage allowed to fester in direct sunlight. It was the most disgusting thing I had ever seen. As I walked through, I saw the people forced to live here were just as ragged and vile. Some were depressing, but most were dirty and corrupted enough to lose my sympathy. Robbers and muggers and murderers, I saw more than one person with a freshly bloodied knife or sword as I tried to find Luffy. More than one corpse let out to rot. I immediately hated the place.

"GYAAAAAAH! IT HURTS! I'M SCARED! HELP ME!"

Bingo. His trembling scream ripped through me, sending a shiver down my spine.

" _Help me… I want to live… fuck my luck, dying like this…" I croaked, running out of the strength to speak as my chest felt heavier than anything I had ever had to carry before. It weighed me down, burned my throat. I could feel my eyes burning as the blood vessels didn't get enough oxygen. But nobody could hear me. Nobody was in the house, and my croak couldn't be heard outside the walls. There would be no help. I was going to die. In my own room._

I shook my head to get rid of the unwelcome flashback. Ace and Sabo, they didn't know… they didn't know the pain of looking your death in the face. Of knowing you were going to die, and that nobody was going to help. They didn't know the pain of dying alone. Of a long, painful death that seemed to drag on… and on… until you were just begging to die so the agony would leave you alone.

If they knew, they wouldn't have wasted time hiding their stupid money.

I ducked behind a mound of trash as a few men walked out of the ramshackle hut that Luffy's cry had come from. I took deep breaths, willing myself to be silent as they left. There was no reason for me to make this a harder fight than it had to be. Slowly, ignoring how unsanitary it was, I climbed up the trash heap I was on. My progress was slow, as I had to make sure I didn't cut myself on any sharp metal or accidentally stick my hand in something squishy that I didn't want to identify. After a long while, I made it to the top. It came level with one of the windows into the hut, and I saw him. It made me clench my fists, nails digging into my palms. I pulled out my hatchets again (they had been tucked onto my back to allow me to climb), and tried to figure out the best way to approach a rescue.

I slung one leg over the side of the mound, and slowly waddled over the slightly unsteady heap to the barren window. Unbroken glass was too good for a dump like this, so the window was really just a square hole with nothing protecting it. I peeked in, taking stock of the place. Porchemy was too busy beating Luffy to notice me. I slowly lowered myself over the window, pointing my toes and waving my legs until I found the wooden ledge I had noticed earlier and used it as a foot hold. I lowered myself onto it until I got balanced, one hand still holding the window sill above me, one hatchet in my mouth channeling my inner Zoro, and my other hand holding my other hatchet firmly. I turned, Porchemy's stupid height bringing it head within striking distance. I lifted my arm with the hatchet, aimed, and—

"MAVEN! YOU CAME TO SAVE ME! MY HERO!" Luffy managed to blubber loudly through his blood and tears. Porchemy whipped around, seeing me clinging to the wall like a monkey with a weapon raised in his direction. I had never seen someone smile so wickedly before.

"Luffy," I said, forcing my voice to be calm.

"Y-yeah?"

"You are the most stupid person I have ever met," I told him blandly, deciding I might as well give it my best since my surprise attack was ruined. I kicked off the wall, heaving my hatchet with one arm.

The result was obvious. Porchemy had a sword, I had two hatchets. Porchemy's sword had at least three times the reach my weapons had. I really wished I had the time to pull out my staff and extend it, but I didn't. I wasn't training to use hatchets as my main weapon, so my close combat… sucked ass. Badly.

I batted away his blade with one of mine, ticking myself into a roll to soften my landing. I popped up, barely dodging the next blow aimed for me. I dodged and hopped, my endurance gained from my overtraining kicking in. I was able to frustrate the hell out of the lavender haired blobfish, barely allowing him a single nick for an hour. An _hour_ , I spent dodging. I couldn't get close enough to land more than one or two hits, but I pissed the larger guy off.

But my overtraining also meant that I wasn't as rested as I should have been. My reflexes were slower than usual, my judgement slightly impaired with exhaustion. I lunged in, my hour of stalling having annoyed me just as much as Porchemy, to try and swing one of my hatchets across his face.

He had picked up on my lack of skill in close combat, dropping his sword and landing a solid punch to my unprotected side with his spiked glove. I gasped, pain shooting through my body as I could feel the spikes bite into my flesh. I landed on the ground hard, my hatchets knocked out of my hands.

"MAVEN!" Luffy roared. "How dare you hurt her?! Maven! Are you okay?! Maven?!"

I coughed, spitting out blood. I tried to get up to back away from the heavy footsteps nearing me, but I couldn't. My exhaustion teamed up with my new injury to keep me down.

"Maybe you'll be more willing to fess up than your little friend, here," Porchemy said darkly, lifting my by the collar of my shirt. I used my core muscles to bend myself at the waist, landing a solid kick to his chin. It made his face snap to the side and he stumbled back a few steps from the force of the blow.

I gained a good amount of satisfaction from the glob of blood I saw him spit out. Karma, bitch.

He didn't loosen his hold on me, though, and knocked his hard head into mine. The blow made me gasp, making me dizzy enough that he was able to tie me up right next to Luffy before I regained my senses.

"Maven! Maven!"

Porchemy silenced Luffy with a blow to the stomach. He turned to me.

"Where's our money?"

"Fuck you, blobfish," was all I said back, glaring at him from where I dangled by rope. Porchemy turned red in the face at my insult, hitting me just like he had hit Luffy. I had more muscle to protect myself than Luffy did, though, so I got slightly less damaged. Slightly. Luffy kept calling my name every time he saw me hit, even though Porchemy hit us both equally as he questioned us, until he couldn't say anything through the pain. I felt as least two hours pass by since I had been strung up, the sun starting to dip below the horizon and making the room darken.

"Where-" hit, "is-" hit, "the money?!" He landed that last hit across my face, making me hiss. I refused to yell or scream like Luffy had. I wouldn't give in to this bastard, I'd show him that I wasn't like any kid or any girl he had ever met before.

"Fine, I'll tell you," I hissed.

"Maven, no!" Luffy croaked to my side, but I ignored him.

"Good, about time. Where?!"

"Up your ass!" I yelled, landing a glob of bloody spit on Porchemy's cheek. Luffy chuckled, and I knew he was reminded of that first day he was brought to Dadan's house with me, and Ace had spat at him.

Porchemy growled. "You really piss me off, you little bitch!" He roared, lifting his sword with one hand. "I only need one of your alive to tell me where it is, so you can just die!"

"STOP IT!"

I looked up, smiling at the two boys who had just bust a literal whole through the wall. I chuckled to myself. "Channeling your inner gramps, huh?" I muttered to myself, watching them start to beat the pirates in the room.

"ACE!" Luffy blubbered in relief.

"Cut us down, quick, Sabo!" I swung on my rope. "I would have won earlier if I had been able to use my staff!"

Sabo looked up at me, then swiftly stole a dagger from one of the pirates before leaping up, cutting the ropes holding me and Luffy off with one stroke. Sabo caught Luffy, but I rolled away before he could catch me too, landing on my feet on the ground. As quickly as I could I grabbed my retracted staff from my back, extending it to its full length.

"Let's get out of here, Ace! Maven!" Sabo yelled at us urgently.

"You go on ahead!" Ace yelled back.

"What?! Are you an idiot?!"

"I won't run away from a fight!" Ace yelled back, determined. Sabo looked over at me, as if begging me to knock some sense into him. Instead, I pulled up next to Ace.

"Wha— Not you too, Maven!"

"I lost last time because I didn't pull out my staff. I won't walk away without beating him into the ground!"

Revenge was only partially my reason. I had always rolled my eyes at guys like Ace before, who refused to run away to save their lives, but now I found myself in the same situation. I couldn't run away. If I always ran away then one day I'd have a knife in my back, and I already promised myself I would not die pitifully again.

Ace looked over at me, offering a very small smirk— I would have missed it if I had blinked— before we both turned and leapt back into the battle.

"Stop it! He's got a sword! He's different from the punks in town!"

Both of us ignored Sabo, getting our weapons —one pipe and one staff— ready as Porchemy looked down at us.

"Hey, that's a pretty bad choice you know? And you're already half dead, girl. Just give us the money back, you stupid kids."

"We'll use it better," Ace shot back, and we dodged as Porchemy yelled at us and swung his sword. I heard Sabo drop Luffy behind us, telling him to stay there. I grinned, obviously Sabo wouldn't just leave us behind.

"If I lost to some brats, I'd quit being a pirate!" Porchemy bellowed.

Ace, Sabo and I all dove in, wielding our polearms with deadly precision for a bunch of ten year olds. We all ducked around Porchemy's wide and sloppy blows. Ace landed hit after hit on his head, Sabo aimed for his man's large stomach, and I knocked my staff into the man's knees and ankles until he fell over. We didn't allow ourselves to stop until he was knocked out. Once he was, Sabo grabbed Luffy again and we all ran out.

Not before I grabbed my hatchets from where they had been abandoned on the floor, though. They were precious gifts from the old geezer and proof of his faith in me, I wasn't giving them up.

Once we got far enough, Ace and Sabo led us to the spot where they had moved their treasure, taking out the stashes of bandages they kept for whenever they got hurt while stealing. Ace tossed one roll my way, trusting me to bandage my own wounds, while both boys focused on bandaging Luffy up. The younger boy had been tortured for at least an hour longer than I had been, so he was the priority.

I ran while they weren't looking.

Perhaps it was cowardly, not wanting to face them at such an important moment. This was the moment Luffy would finally become Ace and Sabo's friend. I didn't belong. I never belonged.

But… what remained of the nerd in me couldn't just leave. I wanted to watch! So I climbed a tree nearby, and leaned back on it so I was out of sight, and couldn't see them either. But they were still within earshot, so I listened as I bandages myself up.

Ace and Sabo took a few minutes, but it seemed that they managed to treat all of their wounds.

"Alright, that's the Crybaby and me taken care of. How are your injuries, ha—" I guess he had turned and saw I wasn't there, because he and Sabo suddenly let out a sound of shock.

"Where'd she go?!" Ace yelled, and I guessed he must have been trying to see if he could spot me.

"Just as bad as Luffy, we only looked away for a second!" Sabo added. I pouted. I was _not_ as bad as Luffy! I didn't get captured in a second, I only hid from them. Huge difference!

After a minute, the older two of the tree sighed and sat down. Luffy hadn't stopped crying since he was bandaged, tears and snot running down his face.

"That's a bad habit, Ace! You have to run when facing a real pirate! You and Maven must have some kind of death wish!" Sabo ranted before taking a breath. "Haa... After that, Bluejam's crew won't leave us alone now. They'll come after us!"

"I was so scared… I thought I was gonna die… and then I thought Maven was gonna save me… and then I thought I was gonna die again… buwaaaaaa!" Luffy cried and blubbered.

"SHUT UP! How long are you gonna cry?! I hate weaklings and crybabies!" Ace yelled at the rubber boy mercilessly. "You piss me off!"

I finished with my wounds, and crawled to peek over the edge of the branch at the boys. I covered my mouth so I didn't chuckle at Luffy's sudden attempt to get himself to stop crying; he pulled his lips into his mouth to try and keep the sounds in, and he did his best to pull a brave face and stop his tears from leaking out. I heard Ace let out a little 'oh…' as he noticed Luffy trying hard to do what Ace said. The rubber boy suddenly bowed at the waist from where he sat, choking out the bravest 'thanks,' that he could.

"Thanks… for saving… me… buwaaaaa," But the tears weren't held back for long, apparently, as he cried again right after his thanks and made Sabo have to hold back an angry Ace from hitting Luffy.

"He's just saying thanks!" Sabo tried to calm his freckled friend down.

Ace was silent for a moment before yelling again. This time, his anger was for something very different than a few tears and sobs.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING?! THOSE GUYS DON'T CARE ABOUT KILLING WOMEN AND CHILDREN!"

"But... if I talked, you wouldn't be my friend..!" Luffy argued with a weak but determined voice. That seemed to just fuel Ace a bit more.

"Even if I don't, it's better than dying isn't it?! Why would you want to be my friend so badly?! After what I did to you, why are you still following me around?!"

I smiled sadly. There we go. This is where things would get better.

"BECAUSE… I DON'T HAVE ANYONE ELSE!" Luffy yelled, shocking Ace.

"I can't go back to Foosha village, and I hate bandits! If I didn't follow you, I would be alone! It's worse to be alone than to be hurt!"

I clenched at my shirt over my heart, clenching my eyes shut. Yeah. Loneliness hurt worse than any wound. Luffy deserved some good friends, and I was happy he would finally get them.

But that didn't stop me from wishing that I could be a part of it, too. I was lonely, too, but… but unlike Luffy, it was better for everyone else if I stayed alone. I didn't belong in their group. I didn't belong with friends as good as them. I refused to hurt them like that.

"Your parents…" Ace wondered.

"I don't have any, besides Gramps!" Luffy replied.

"What about that hag, Maven?" Ace kept on. I back up, and laid down on the branch, staring up through the thick leaves to the sky as I waited to hear the answer.

"Maven doesn't like talking to me. I've tried for years," wow, so even Luffy can give up on somebody, huh? "But I know that she's lonely too. I wanted to be friends with you first, and then try to get her to talk to us again!" I blinked. Okay, maybe not.

"So… if I'm around, it's better?" Ace asked slowly, and Luffy nodded. "And if I'm not around, it's worse?" Luffy nodded again. "And you think Maven won't be any of our friends without my help..?" Again, Luffy nodded.

"Yeah," the rubber boy confirmed out loud. Ace was silent for a moment.

"Do you… want me to live..?" I closed my eyes, laying my arm over them. The despair in his voice, the uncertainty, the hope… no kid should need to feel so amazed that someone wanted them to stay alive. No one should sound so amazed and shocked that someone thought they were worth staying alive.

"Of course!" Luffy shouted back with unshakable certainty.

"Do you think… Maven wants me to live, too?"

Luffy paused, and I waited. "Probably, But you'd have to ask her," Luffy replied. I smiled, happy with that answer. I wouldn't be able to tell Ace to his face anytime soon, not if I wanted to retain my distance, but yeah. Of course I wanted that idiot to live.

I got up, deciding to leave the boys to it. I hopped a few branches away before dropping to the ground and heading back to the hideout.

I made sure to catch an extra large boar for dinner. We were going to have an extra mouth to feed, after all.

I was practicing my handstands, mixing it up by doing handstand-push-ups to make it an even better work out, when the three boys busted in. I smirked when they saw me, pointing and yelling:

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE ALREADY?! AND WHY ARE YOU DOING HANDSTANDS WHEN YOU ARE SO HURT?!"

I jumped out of my handstand, shook my arms out, and shrugged. I could see the veins popping out in Ace and Sabo's foreheads, while Luffy just laughed.

"Haha! I can barely move right now, I have no idea how you were doing that!" Luffy cheerfully told me. I shrugged again, turning and walking away.

"Hey Barbarian," I called out to Dadan, who was in the kitchen. "Get out an extra futon, you got a new mouth to feed."

"WHAT?!" The huge woman stomped out, but I ducked around her attempt to grab me and easily walked to the room I shared with the boys. I could hear when she noticed Sabo. "WHAT THE HELL, ANOTHER ONE?!"

I chuckled, which turned into full-blown laughter when I heard Sabo say:

"Really? Well I heard you're a real bitch!" In response to Dadan calling him a 'little shit.'

I didn't even notice Ace come in the room while I was laughing.

"Huh. That's new, I've never seen you smile like that before."

I stiffened, straightening up. I looked at him with a frown, then stubbornly looked away.

"Yeah? What's it to you?"

"Do you want me to live?"

Oh shit. Shit, he cornered me. Ace one, Maven zip. Ah. Fuck.

"..."

"Do you?" The impatience in his voice couldn't hide the desperation he didn't want me to hear, and it made me sigh.

"Yeah," I admitted softly, my voice barely a whisper. "Yeah, it would be a waste of a perfectly good life if you died. And Sabo and Luffy? They need you. They'd probably get themselves killed without you there, and you'd go off and do something dumb without _them_. All three of you… it's best if all three of you stay alive."

The air was heavy, and I headed to get my futon ready to try and ignore the atmosphere.

"... what about you?" Ace's voice was small. "You didn't mention yourself."

"Stay away from me, Ace," I answered. "All three of you are better off staying away from me."

"Luffy said loneliness hurts worse than getting injured," Ace continued. "I know he's right, you know he's right."

"I _said_ stay away from me, Ace!" I hissed, desperate.

"But we're both devil spawn. It's one thing if there was only one of us, but there isn't. So we should—"

"I'm not the same as you!" I was clenching my pillow so tightly that my knuckles were white. "I'm not like you, or Sabo, or Luffy! I don't belong! You don't know anything about me, so don't think you can just worm your way into my life, Luffy's tried for _years_ without any luck. The three of you need each other, but you don't need me. _Nobody_ needs me. I tried to save Luffy, and look where it got me! I didn't do _shit_. I didn't help at all! So just stay away. Just… just stay away," I grabbed my blanket, dropped my pillow, and jumped out the window. I could hear Ace calling after me, but I didn't listen. I just ran.

When was Ace ever that persistent? I didn't remember him being like that in the manga or anime.

It didn't matter why, I decided. It would just be something I'd have to deal with.

—*—*—*—*—*

Two weeks later, I was returning to the hideout after a day of training, hunting, and avoiding the trio of boys that had suddenly decided to take a page out of Luffy's book and try to corner me to talk to me at least once a day. They always gave up after an hour or so, pulling Luffy along with them, but that didn't make it any less annoying.

The sun was almost setting when I got the bandit's house, dragging a giant boar behind me, it was at least the size of a large horse. "Oi, Dadan! I caught your long lost brother!" I quipped. Dadan came out and growled when she noticed what I was referring to, but the verbal lashing I expected never came.

"Hurry up, you brat. I don't have time for your attitude!" Dadan hissed, trying to keep her voice down. I blinked, then furrowed my brows. My questions were answered when a doctor walked out of the house behind Dadan.

"You must be Maven," the doctor said smoothly, pushing glasses up her nose. "I have everything set up in your bedroom inside. Come along." The woman walked back into the house without seeing if I'd follow. I looked to Dadan, my mouth in a frown.

I knew what it was. It was time for my seasonal check up, to see how my disease was progressing. Dadan met my gaze and huffed.

"You better get in there, brat! Garp's making me pay this doctor out of my own pocket, and she's charging by the hour. I don't understand why the hell that man puts so much effort into you," her last sentence made me stop moving before I had even finished taking a full step. My head dropped. Dadan continued.

"And he dropped you on us, too! The guy's an idiot, why should we use our resources and money to take care of a worthless little lost cause?! You're just gonna drop dead soon anyway. Hmph. Even if you _are_ a monster like those other three brats, you still have no chance of beating this disease. Give up and enjoy the time you got left, kid. A good last few years is the most you can hope for," with one last puff of her cigarette, Dadan turned and entered the hideout.

I stood there, fists clenched so tightly that my nails bit into my palms. My whole body shook.

"FUCK YOU!" I yelled at the house, knowing Dadan could hear me through the thin walls. "FUCK YOU!" I could feel a few tears slip down my cheeks. "I'LL LIVE! I'LL BECOME THE MOST BADASS GIRL IN THE WORLD, AND I'LL TRAVEL PLACES YOU COULD ONLY HOPE TO SEE, YOU STUPID HAG! I'LL GET STRONG ENOUGH TO BENCH PRESS YOUR FAT ASS!" I wiped my tears away angrily. "I WON'T LET SOME STUPID ILLNESS KILL ME!" I finally stomped up, threw open the door, and sat down heavily in front of the doctor.

The woman was a rough sort, likely someone who was used to taking care of the poor and beyond hope. She didn't so much as send a single glare to Dadan, simply went about her check up on me with professional speed.

I walked out of the bedroom to see that dinner had already started. I ran forward to my spot, quickly eating before Luffy could steal my share.

Looking up, I paused. Luffy already had a pile of bones next to his place, and was trying to steal Ace and Sabo's food. Looking down, I saw that my plate hadn't even been touched. I raised my head and stared at Luffy for a moment, eyes wide.

He hadn't tried to steal my food. I hadn't been sitting down to protect it, and he hadn't even tried taking any.

Ace caught me staring and pointed at me. "Oi, eat up you idiot. Or are you not hungry?" I saw all three of them were looking at me now, and I hurriedly ate, wondering what the hell had gotten into them.

Once we were all in the bedroom, Ace went and leaned against the door. Sabo sat on the window sill, preventing me from using that as an escape route, and Luffy sat down on his futon. It was a classic intervention, no way out. They hadn't tried this yet, was this a new befriending tactic?

"Guys, what..?"

"We get it now," Sabo spoke up. "Why you avoid us. We heard Dadan, we had been following you back here to see if we could ambush you when you were handing Dadan your catch."

"Aren't you just sick? You'll get better, right?" Luffy asked, tilting his head. I took a sharp breath, surprised I hadn't noticed them listening in, and dropped onto my futon hard.

"You just didn't want us to know you were sick, right?" Ace went on. "The old hag might think you'll die, but—"

"You don't get it," I interrupted, glaring down at my legs so I wouldn't have to look at any of them. "It's not just some cold or flu or something. It's a disease I'll have my whole life, and nobody has ever survived it. The current record holder for the longest time anyone has survived with the disease is Gold Roger. The pirate king. And it was going to kill him, too, if he didn't get executed first," I told them. Gramps had told me about Roger having Ursurper's like I did, which had made sense. Of course, he had also told me to keep it a secret. But oh well. These three wouldn't tell anyone… well, Ace and Sabo wouldn't. I'd just have to watch Luffy.

The room was silent. I could feel the shock in the air.

"He— Gold Roger was sick?" Sabo asked, brow furrowed. "That doesn't sound right."

"That's because it's a secret," I told them. "Gramps told me about it. People aren't supposed to know that he was sick when he was caught. That he was already dying," I looked down at my hands, clenching and unclenching them. "It eats at muscle. Makes the person weaker until they can't move, then it stops their heart and brain. That's why I train all the time. I need to get stronger, and stronger. I need to make muscle faster than my disease can eat it," I felt my arms start to tremble. "That's why Gramps took me away when Ace and I were one. That's when they found out I had it. The doctor said I wouldn't live longer than three years old, but Gramps said I wouldn't die before I had a chance to live. So he took me to marine headquarters, and trained me every day. He's always been the only person who ever thought I had a chance at living," I felt a tear slip out.

"The doctors won't be wrong every time. So far I've gone longer than they expected, but eventually they'll be right. The doctor just now said she gave me two more years to live. They've all been saying, that, lately. It's always, 'two more years. That's all.' and it's been wrong so far, but… but…"

"Quit worrying," Ace interrupted, making me snap my head up to look at him. That was the first time I ever saw him trying to hide worry, the first time I saw his eyes… soft. "You've lived this long, right? And you said it yourself earlier. You're gonna be the most badass girl in the world."

"Yeah," Sabo agreed, smiling wide enough to show off his missing tooth. "And you're gonna travel, right? Be a pirate with us!" He said with a laugh. "You'll join one of our crews, and we'll take you everywhere you want to go!"

Luffy nodded, jumping up and pumping one fist in the air with determination. "Yeah! Be my first mate!"

"Idiot, she's gonna be _my_ first mate!" Ace argued, and soon enough those two were butting heads and growling at each other.

"But, what if I don't?" I asked, the worry I tried to hide and ignore bubbling up. The doubt. "What if I die before any of us can even set sail?"

"Then at least you won't be alone," Luffy chimed in, smiling again. "And we'd have memories of you being happy instead of moody and quiet. We'll be sad, but all four of us would have been even happier before, so it all works out. Right?" I couldn't stop staring at that stupid ball of happiness. Why did such an idiot have to make so much sense? Why was such an idiot so smart when it came to _people_?

"What Luffy said," Ace agreed easily. "The only thing worse than living alone has to be dying alone, right? So we won't let you."

"So come with us tomorrow. We'll teach you how to steal, and you can get in on our hundred spars a day," Sabo excitedly offered. "If you wanna get stronger, fighting experience should be important too. We'll help!"

"But you better keep up, or we'll leave you behind, got it?" Ace smirked. I blinked, then blinked again, and smiled widely through my tears.

"Who are you kidding? You'll be the one left behind, idiot!"

—*—*—*—*—*

**Thank you all again for reading! :D see you next chapter~**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm gonna start this off with an Omake that I wanted at the end of chapter two, but forgot about. I'll put it here at the beginning of this chapter so I don't forget again. Thanks!**

— ***—*—*—*—***

**Omake**

When Maven was two years old.

The marine yard was bustling as the recruits went about their exercises and drills. But one section of the covered walkway leading to Training Yard Seven was filled with silence. Silence, that is, that was penetrated only by soft whispers. A secret lesson was going on, one that both participants knew must absolutely not be discovered.

"Almost there, Maven. Just sharpen the syllable."

"Gweezah, gweezah… gue… geh… gw… geezah!"

"Almost there! Repeat after me, geezer. Geezer, Garps is a geezer. Your gramps is a geezer."

"Geezah!"

"Good. Now who is Vice Admiral Garp?"

"Stupid geezah!"

"Good, goo—"

"KUZAN, WHAT ARE YOU TEACHING MY GRANDDAUGHTER?!"

"Maven, what are we?"

Scwewed. We vewy sc… scw… screwed."

"Very good Maven. Now let me pick you up so we can run."

End Omake.

—*—*—*—*—*

"Gyah!" Yeah, my hand-to-hand sucked. I was reminded of this as I was tossed onto the ground, a plume of dust rising from the ground from my landing.

"Oi, oi, oi. When was the last time you sparred with anyone?" Ace asked, looking down at me with his hands on his hips. Like Sabo had offered, I had been able to get in on their hundred spars a day. Unfortunately, the only person I had won against so far had been Luffy.

"This is the first day I've even _had_ anyone to spar against in over three months! I'm not counting crocodiles, they get predictable fast," I sat up and ran a hand through my hair. "Before that? Do you honestly think there were any other kids at marine headquarters to spar against?" I raised an eyebrow at him. He and Sabo shared a glance before looking back at me, half worried and half amused.

"So who did you practice with? Gramps?"

"And some of the other Vice Admirals," I admitted, rubbing the back of my neck. "Vice Admiral Kuzan was the one that liked me the most besides Gramps. And he was a bit more merciful, not that that says much," Ace, Luffy and I all cringed at the reminder of Gramps' training style. "But the closest I ever got to fighting someone my own age is when one of the lower ranks offered to fight me because they were bored."

"So this is the first time you've ever been able to have a fair spar," Sabo mused, looking at the board. I had won thirty-three fights against Luffy already, and lost twenty each against Ace and Sabo.

I stood up, dusting myself off.

"Well, we know it has nothing to do with lack of strength," Ace thought out loud. "You've been staring at rocks and staffs too long, you don't know how to predict an attack or what counter would work best. And your speed sucks too."

"Ah. I guess I _have_ been neglecting my leg muscles a bit, haven't I?" I looked down at my feet with a frown. "Well, no matter. I'll just work in speed training into my day."

"Replace some of your staff and hatchet trainings in the morning with it," Sabo suggested. "You don't need as much practice with those."

"Ah. Okay, Sabo. You're next!"

I lost all of my matches besides the ones against Luffy that first day.

I lost all of my matches besides Luffy's that whole first week.

The end of the second week, _that_ was promising.

Ace swung his fist towards my face. It was as fast as ever, but this time I could see it. My eyes had finally adjusted to the speed that my two older friends used so effortlessly, and my feet had finally adjusted as well. For the first time, I dodged his strike instead of using my endurance to bare it.

Ace didn't allow me any rest, though. He kicked with his right foot, making me jump over it before I aimed a punch for his stomach. When he dodged easily, I turned my body so my back was to him and grabbed his leg.

"Gwah!" He was caught off balance, and I quickly yanked his leg from under him before he could regain it, turning back around to pin him down.

We grinned at one another, I had done it. My first time winning a spar (Luffy didn't count)! And it was against _Ace_ of all people!

I jumped off of him, pumping my fist in the air. "Woo! I'm getting better!"

"Congrats, Maven. You won your last spar of the day," Sabo said with a smirk.

"Yeah, Snail. I was just tired from all my other ninety-nine matches," Ace teased. He switched up his nickname for me every day or two, never quite finding the right one. Snail was just his latest try, chosen since he thought I was still lacking in my speed.

"AWW MAN! I wanted to be the first one out of the two of us to win a match against them!" Luffy whined from his spot pinned under Sabo. The three of us laughed at him.

"You haven't even won against _me_ yet, Luffy, what makes you think you'd win against one of _them_ before me?" I asked, but the boy just pouted.

"Alright guys. That's it for the fights today, how about we go eat in town to celebrate Maven's first win?" Ace asked, his arms crossed and grin spread devilishly over his face. I copied him.

"We're not paying, are we?" I asked, since I hadn't been with them on any of their dine-and-dashes yet (they had decided I would use that time for extra training until I won a match against Ace or Sabo), but had heard tales from Luffy. Sabo laughed.

"There's no way we'd pay! Our treasure is for a ship, and we won't spend any of it until we can buy one!" He cheerfully proclaimed. I smiled at them, already getting excited. I never would have dine and dashed in my last life, I always played it safe. But now, the mere thought was giving me a thrill. And I'd be doing it with my best friends!

As we walked over, Sabo and Ace explained that we couldn't just walk in normally. The three of them were already known criminals for all the fighting and dining and dashing and stealing they did. I wasn't that surprised when they pulled out a huge cloak from where they hid most of their belongings next to their treasure, and tilted my head.

"Do you have a longer one?" I asked them. In a normal world I would have been cautious of appearing abnormally tall, but in this world that wasn't a problem. There wasn't really such a thing _as_ abnormally tall to worry about anymore.

So, the thought of piling on top of one another to make a tall cloaked person to sneak into town wasn't as far fetched as it might have been in just about any other reality. It still made me grin and hold back chuckles, though.

"Okay!" Luffy pumped a fist in the air. "I'll be the head!"

"No way!" Ace argued. "I'm the oldest, I'll be the head!"

"Oh, hey wait," I interrupted. "I actually don't know if you're older than I am or not," I admitted. "We were born so close to one another, and I forgot to ask."

"Oh," Ace blinked. "Well, you want to fight me for who gets to be the head?"

"Nah, I want to be the feet anyway," I admitted innocently, large smile spread over my face as the three boys were hit by my words.

"WHY, YOU..!" Sabo held Ace back from mauling me for my little tease. "WHY'D YOU EVEN BRING UP OUR AGES THEN?!"

"I wanted to annoy you."

"YOU LITTLE—"

"I'm taller than you~"

"GRAAAAH!"

Luffy, Sabo and I all doubled over in laughter at poor Ace's fury. He was so easy to rile up! In the end, it was me at the bottom (I was using the weight of the three of them and the necessity of walking straight as a secret form of training, though I think Sabo might have caught on), with Sabo on top of me, And Luffy right under Ace since he wasn't strong enough yet to carry more than one person. The extra long cloak they found was draped over us and Sabo and I carried everyone's pipes, with mine on my back in its retracted form. We got through the gate easily without so much as turning a single head, our crocodile skin from lunch being pulled behind us by Ace's hand.

It wasn't long before we were stopped by a bunch of thugs in the rattier part of town, looking to take our crocodile skin. Ace wasted no time throwing the cloak off, while Sabo and I handed him and Luffy their pipes.

"Wah! Those here are!— wait, who's the girl?"

"Who cares, take her down first!" The stupid men yelled, singling me out as the weakest link. I rolled my eyes at this flawed gender-based logic, waiting until my friends jumped off my shoulders before taking out my staff. I shook out my arms.

"Ace and Sabo might be able to beat me easily, but you guys aren't even a challenge," I stated blandly, sighing as I blocked one sloppy hit after another. It was so easy to land strikes on them that it wasn't even a workout, the group of thugs were knocked out in less than a minute. I scoffed, shaking my head and moving to get the wagon with the crocodile skin on it. "C'mon guys. Let's find a good place to sell this at."

"Maven's right, let's go," Ace agreed easily, shoving a thug's face with his foot once before following me as I led the way down the street. It took ten minutes before I turned around, my eyebrow twitching.

"WHY ARE YOU IDIOTS FOLLOWING ME?! I'VE NEVER BEEN IN TOWN BEFORE!" I yelled at them, exasperated.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TAKING THE LEAD IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU'RE GOING?!" Ace shouted right back. It didn't take long before we were forehead-to-forehead growling at each other. The fact that we were attracting attention didn't bother us, Ace and I were used to people staring and whispering. Usually it was the bandits and street punks, or the marines in my case, but we were used to it all the same. We were so into our bickering that we didn't even notice Sabo sighing behind us, moving to grab the wagon and telling Luffy to follow him. By the time we noticed that certain things and people weren't where we remembered them being, they were almost turning the corner at the end of the street.

Ace and I shot up, heads spinning to locate the lost boys and wagon. Once assured that nobody was being attacked, we let out a breath of air at the same time and jogged to catch up.

—*—*—*—*—*

"I'm holding the money," I said quickly, snatching it from Sabo's hands. We had gotten a fair amount, almost five thousand for the crocodile skin. It wasn't a lot, a good quality coat cost several times more, but it was the best we were likely to get at the only shady stores that we could get into to sell it at.

"Hey, why does it matter who holds it?" Ace asked, brows furrowed. "It's all going to the stash anyway, Not like we plan on spending any of it," That made me blink, looking over at him. Gears were still running in my head, running over the few details of what I remembered was going to happen soon even as I answered him.

"I'm the only one here who isn't seen as a criminal yet. Nobody knows my name. If I'm caught, nobody will think to search me for money because they'll think one of you three would hold any we have," I stated as I tried to come to a silent conclusion and stuffed the money in my pockets. There was too much to fit in only one of them, making me split the stack in two and place half in each of the pockets in my shorts.

"That's it!" My eyes were wide as I breathed those words out in shock at my sudden revelation. All three of my friends spun to look at me in confusion. I looked up at them. "I've been thinking about the time with Porchemy. He wasn't the captain of those pirates, there's still people who know we at least have their money. People know you—we—steal," I looked into Sabo and Ace's eyes. "We need to split off a small bit of our treasure. Hide it in the original place, adults don't think we're smart or strong enough to get that much money—"

"Why?" Luffy piped up, not following. I looked around, frowning. Once I located a dim alley, I dragged the three of them into it and knelt down so I was closer to Luffy's eyes.

"Luffy. You can't beat any of us in a spar yet, could you defend us if a real pirate attacked?" Luffy opened his mouth, about to shout something brave and stupid, but then I saw when the dusty gears in his head started to turn and he shut his mouth. I looked up at Ace and Sabo. "We handled Porchemy easily enough. But what if they attacked us with three or four or more men just as strong as him, or stronger? We could handle one or two, but more than that?" I saw their faces start to turn down as they realized what I was saying. "We're strong ass kids, but we are still kids. If Porchemy's captain shows up with a whole crew of people three times our size, we might not end up able to protect ourselves. You said it yourself, Ace. They won't hesitate killing women and children. If we ever end up all trapped, they'll threaten us. Maybe hold a knife to one of our throats. The only way to get them to stop will be telling them where our treasure is, but we won't want to because it's important. What do we do?"

"...We'd tell them," Sabo said, fists clenched. "Treasure isn't worth our lives." Ace and Luffy nodded in agreement.

"Right. But we can be smart, too. Put just a little of our treasure in a separate hiding spot. Tell them that that's where all of it is, and they'll believe us because we're kids. If they steal it, then at least we'll be safe and we won't have to start from scratch. If they never find it or ask for it, then we only have to spend an extra few minutes grabbing it from the separate spot."

The three boys traded glances, then looked at me with a solemn nod. Luffy ruined it with a large grin.

"Shishishi, Maven's smart!" He said with a laugh. I blushed, realizing Sabo and Ace were also looking at me in slight wonder that I could come up with a plan like that. I turned away.

"I-idiots! I just got the idea out of nowhere. Come on, let's go eat some ramen."

"Yeah! Food!" Luffy rushed out, making Ace and Sabo run off after him to keep him from getting lost. I sighed, relieved the focus was no longer on me as I stuck my hands in my money-filled pockets and walked calmly behind them.

Some changes are best made slowly. Fate could be outsmarted. The brain could be strengthened like a muscle, so I'd make sure I exercised it just as much as my calves and biceps and abs.

—*—*—*—*—*

The ramen was delicious. The idiots who owned the restaurant were watching us, clearly thinking that they had the three little thieves and their new friend cornered since we were on the fourth floor, but the three of us knew better.

"Ready to go, boys?" I drawled with a grin, my friends smiling back at me. As one, we got up from the fancy wood chairs and sprinted to the window. "Thanks for the food!" I yelled behind us. We easily smashed through the glass, laughing with glee. Sabo grabbed a flag pole to slow his decent halfway down, swinging to drop easily down onto the concrete with the grace of a cat. Luffy just let his rubber body bounce off of an awning down then onto the floor in a landing no normal human would have been able to handle without injury (lucky bastard), while Ace took a similar landing with much more control and actually landed on his feet instead of his back like our rubber friend.

Me? I didn't bother with any of that. I decided to be just as lazy as our resident devil fruit user— by landing on him to absorb the force of my blow, and bouncing off his rubber belly to land on my feet. Ace and Sabo stared at me, wide eyed, for a moment as Luffy stood up without seeming to even realize what I had done. The boys were still staring at me as we began to run.

"You- you— Maven!" Ace stammered. I looked over him, pulling the most innocent face I could muster even as police called after us, telling us to halt— did that ever really work?— and calling out our status as thieves for everyone to hear.

"What?" I batted my lashes. "He's basically a human trampoline anyway, might as well make use of it! Look, it didn't even knock the air out of his lungs," I pointed out. Sure enough, Luffy was cheerfully running next to us without any sign of injury or inconvenience. I seriously doubted he was even aware I had used him as a landing pad.

Whatever they were going to say in response was cut off by an obnoxious, overly-cultured voice. It was the voice of somebody spoiled rotten and greedy.

"Sabo?! Sabo! It really is you! Wait right there! I don't believe it, you're actually alive!" I glanced back just in time to see a man with a top hat similar to Sabo's. The older guy was pretty much all neck and blubber, his chin barely standing out from the mess of flesh that threatened to blend together this cheeks with his torso. His mustache was thin and stiff and horribly tasteless.

I instantly hated him. The feeling was even more intense than my instant hatred of the trash heap had been. The people in the trash heap, no matter how vile, had mostly become vile for the sake of survival. This man? He was rotten just for the sake of being rotten, for the sake of greed and comfort. That was worse.

"Hey Sabo, someone's calling for you!" Ace yelled over to our blond friend.

"Who is that guy?" Luffy asked ,his cheeks still ballooned out with the amount of food he still had stuffed in them. I had half a heart to yell at him to swallow already, it was disgusting to see how much of a glutton he was sometimes, but Sabo's problem was more important. The greasy man— for that is what I would call him now, in honor of his stupid mustache— continued to call after us for Sabo to wait.

"He must be mistaking me for someone else! Let's go!" He waved off Ace's remark, speeding through the streets even faster.

My twin and I shared a glance, the frowns on our face identical even as we sped up to keep up with Sabo. Luffy wasn't far behind us.

As soon as we were through the gates, past Grey Terminal, and safely in the woods we stopped and started out interrogation. The three of us backed Sabo up until he was against a tree.

"What are you hiding?" Ace asked, arms crossed.

"We're friends now, no secrets." I agreed. Although, I did realize I was being extremely hypocritical, but… oh well.

"What?! I'm not hiding anything!" Sabo argued back. Luffy, poor innocent idiot, believed him.

"Oh, really?"

"DON'T BE STUPID! Of course he is!" Ace and I yelled back at him before turning to Sabo again.

"Like Maven said, we shouldn't have to keep secrets from each other—" The next part was said by all three of us at once—

"Spill it."

What followed was me calmly watching as my twin and my friend tried to strangle the secret out of poor Sabo. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost. But I knew they weren't going to kill him, so I just leaned back against a tree to enjoy the show until Sabo finally choked out that he'd tell us.

Sabo looked down at his hands, clenching them as if what he was about to say was a secret so terrible that it would jeopardize our friendship. That fool. Didn't he know we weren't gonna let him go for anything, no matter how bad, now?

"I'm… a noble's son."

"A noble's son?!" Luffy yelled. "Who is?"

"I AM!" Sabo yelled back, annoyed.

"So what?" Was all the boys said, sticking their pinkies into their noses. I crinkled my nose at their bad manners, but couldn't help but have the sudden urge to pick my nose, too, now that I saw them doing it.

Unlike them, I had restraint. I just crossed my arms.

"YOU'RE THE ONES WHO WANTED TO KNOW!" Sabo growled at them, shocked and irritated by their attitude.

"I'm not that surprised," I interrupted, making the three of them glance over at me. I crossed my arms, mimicking Ace. "I mean really. His clothes might be a bit ratty and filled with holes, but they were obviously fancy once. And what kind of orphan born in the Dump wears a top hat and tailcoat?"

They were all silent.

"Wow, Ace's dumb shishishi," Luffy giggled, earning a punch over the head from a certain freckled boy.

"YOU DIDN'T NOTICE EITHER, IDIOT!"

I banged both their heads together to get them to shut up.

"Be quiet already. It's Sabo's turn to talk now."

Sabo looked down, sliding to sit cross legged on the ground as he told his story. He spoke of his parents, alive but cold and treating him like an item instead of a human and a child. How they only cared about the family name and not about his happiness. Every word made me feel sicker and sicker, not just because of their content but because of the tone that the boy said it in. How could anyone justify actions that made a boy, a boy young enough that he should be innocent, speak with shame that knew no bounds? Shame that nobody should have to feel for things out of their control, regardless of age. It was sick. Children should enjoy life, not be ashamed of the one they were given because of how the others in their social class acted or thought.

"...This may be kind of rude to you guys, but… I was always alone even though I had parents. The nobles always scorned and despised the trash heap, but… compared to that elite district, where I didn't even have the room to breathe… Where my whole damned life was planned out for me… I'd take the trash heap any way," he admitted.

"So that's the deal, huh?" Ace mused aloud. I smiled.

"That's fine. We won't let you go back anyway!" I said, hoping I could make my words stay true.

Sabo stood up suddenly, his tailcoat swishing loudly with the unexpected movement.

"Ace… Luffy… Maven!" He said, the determination taking over his voice making us all glance at him, eyes glued to his. "We have to make it to the sea one day! We'll leave this country behind… And gain our freedom!" His fists came up close to his face as he tried to hold back his excitement, making me close my eyes with a smile. "I want to see the world in all its glory and write a book about what I find! If it's sailing I'm studying for, then I don't care how hard I'll have to work! We've got to become stronger and become real pirates!"

"Hehehe," Ace chuckled. I couldn't hold back a laugh either;

"Zeh heh heh," I opened my eyes with a wide grin.

"I don't need you to tell me that!" Ace shouted. "I'm gonna become a pirate, beat every last person who stands in my way… and earn myself the kind of glory that dreams are made of! Only then will my life be worth living! I don't care if the whole world refuses to accept me… They can hate me all they like! I'll become a great pirate and prove I'm better than them!" He was standing at the cliff side, as if yelling his declaration for the whole world to hear.

It rang with the determination and weight of the family of D. The power in his words filled the air, swirling around all of us like a flame determined to devour anything that dares stand in the way of Ace's will. I chuckled again, letting the fire of his will sweep over me. It was fitting for the boy I knew would eventually become a human torch. Yeah. Let this screwed up society hate us all they wanted. We'd prove to them just what power we had, just what kind of people they were shunning. We'd rip their world apart from the seams.

"Zeh heh heh," I chuckled, standing up. "Don't leave me out," I interrupted, hands on my hips as I walked up to Ace's side. "I will become THE MOST BADASS GIRL IN THE WORLD!" I yelled out to the sea. "I'LL LIVE LONGER THAN ANYONE EXPECTS ME TO! I WON'T DIE TO A STUPID DISEASE, I'LL LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO SHOW EVERYONE… TO SHOW EVERYONE… to show everyone that I am stronger than they think! That I'm strong enough to shake up this world even when I'm dying!"

Ace grinned over at me. The night with Porchemy ran through our heads, and it might have been a twin thing, but I instantly knew what he wanted us to say together. We took deep breaths, shouting with each other:

"We won't run from anybody! We'll never lose a fight! Who cares if people become terrified of us?!" Another deep breath. "WE'LL MAKE SURE THE WORLD KNOWS OUR NAME!"

"Shishishi," the familiar laugh made us turn around as a familiar boy in a red tank top walked in front of us and said; "All right, well then…" as if he had taken our words as a challenge. Knowing the little idiot, he probably had. He raised his fists into the air and shouted louder than any of us: "I'M GONNA BE THE KING OF PIRATES!"

"Zeh heh heh heh," I covered my mouth to cut off my laughs before they got too loud. If Ace's declaration of his will had been a fire, Luffy's was a laugh. It rang in the air, forcing smiles onto people's faces and filling hearts with hope. It wasn't easy to see or as outwardly powerful as the fire Ace's declaration had been, but it was not inferior in any way. It was the kind of will that made people willingly go along. The kind that inspired friendship instead of respect. How fitting for his to feel like that.

"Huh?!" The blonde and messy haired boys next to me didn't seem to be able to feel it though, as they were just caught off guard by his dream.

Luffy laughed cheerfully at their reaction, but both boys were still dumbfounded. Sabo started laughing as Ace just stared, mouth wide.

"Of all the things you could come up with…" my twin muttered.

"Ahahaha! You're one crazy guy!" Sabo said through his laughter, as if we didn't all already know _that_ about Luffy. "You're one to keep an eye on, for sure!"

A moment passed as we all calmed down, but Sabo was the first one to talk again.

"But isn't it gonna be a problem if we all want to be captain?"

"Yeah, I always thought you were gonna be my navigator, Sabo," Ace agreed. My eyebrow twitched.

"Just because he's smarter than you and Luffy combined doesn't mean he's gonna be a navigator, idiot," I muttered with crossed arms.

"WHAT WAS THAT, HAG?!"

You guys should join my ship!" Luffy interrupted. I tilted my head, humming.

"Yeah okay. I'll be your first mate, Luffy," I agreed easily. All three turned and yelled in shock.

"WHAT?!"

"YAY! MY FIRST CREW MEMBER! SHISHISHI!"

I clasped my hands behind my back with a large grin on my face.

"Why would you be first mate for this idiot?!" Ace asked, giving Luffy a noogie.

"Yeah, those of us with intelligence should stick together!" Sabo tried to convince me. I just blinked at them.

"First off; Sabo, if we were on a pirate crew together, who'd keep those two airheads from killing themselves?" Silence. "That's what I thought. Ace should be fine, probably. But Luffy'd get himself killed in only a day or two after he sets sail without me," I thought about the infamous whirlpool and the barrel incident. "Secondly. If I want to be the most badass girl in the. World, it's only fitting that I should be the first mate of the future pirate king, don't you think?" I smiled widely.

"Shishishi, she's right! The pirate king can only have the best crew!" Luffy agreed. Ace just stared at me, the corner of his mouth twisted down into a partial frown. I decided to quell his doubts, walking over and slinging an arm over his shoulder. I turned us so we weren't facing the other two boys, easily whispering into his ear.

"C'mon, someone's gotta fill the position," I whispered, knowing he was thinking about his— our— father and how much he hated him. "Better it be someone we know won't abuse the power, right? Honestly, look at him," We both looked over our shoulder at the painfully innocent rubber boy, who was telling Sabo about all the things he'd do as Pirate King and trying to get the blonde to join his crew like I had. "There are a lot worse people trying for the title. But Luffy's the only one I can see that deserves it."

Ace looked down, thinking, then gave me a weak smirk. He was warming up to the idea.

"You know what? Yeah. Yeah, Luffy'd make a good Pirate King. Once he can learn how to hit somebody other than himself, anyway."

—*—*—*—*—*

Ace ran off not long after that, telling us to wait for him. We all shared confused glances before sitting down around a large tree trunk to wait for his return. When he came back, it was with a bottle of Dadan's finest sake and four cups for it. I stared with wide eyes as I recognized what was about to happen, watching Ace give each of us a cup. I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry. Nobody noticed me trying to deal with my sudden swell of shock and emotion as they were too focused on Ace filling each of the cups.

"We can decide the details later. We could end up all forming our own crews, for all we know," Ace wisely stated as Luffy marveled over the stolen booze. Ace smiled wickedly.

"Did you know, guys? If we exchange drinks we can become siblings," I jolted at the change of phrase, realizing that, yes, I was now part of this world. Not some outsider brought here, I was officially part of it. I belonged.

This proved it. These three boys were accepting me. _Ace_ was accepting me.

"Siblings?! Really?!" Luffy asked, excited. Of course, he was even more excited after Sabo explained what the word 'siblings' meant.

"When we become pirates, we may not end up on the same crew…" Ace continued. "But our sibling bond we share will never die! No matter where we are, or what we do…" We all grabbed our cups and started to raise them. "This bond will never break!" We crashed our cups together.

"Starting today, we… ARE SIBLINGS!"

"Yeah!" Luffy, Sabo and I shouted in agreement. I tossed the liquor back as quickly as I could, knowing it was going to burn. And burn it did, making me cough and hack since my young throat wasn't ready for alcohol yet. But I was better off than my brothers— brothers! By choice!— who sipped at it unwisely and started gagging before they made themselves finish it.

—*—*—*—*—*

The weeks went by in blurs. It was more fun than any time I could ever remember having, even in the memories of my past life that were steadily fading in both importance and vibrancy. Back then, I had been an introvert that was too weird in my interests and personality for the boring world around me and had very little friends to speak of growing up. My energy scared them all away.

But here? With my new brothers? I fit in. My energy was accepted, even considered calm in comparison to them. And I found myself needed and depended on in a way I never had been before.

"Zeheheheh! I grinned and laughed as we ran across the rickety rope bridge that winter. The planks were slick with snow and ice, but none of us had problems.

_Crrr_

Wait, no I jinxed it. I turned around, eyes wild. This wasn't memory, just pure instinct as I stopped in my tracks and made a grab for Luffy.

_Crack!_

The plank under my youngest brother snapped, making Luffy wail in surprise as he found himself falling. Even knowing he would probably be fine if he fell with his rubber body, all three of us jumped into action on pure reflex. Ace grabbed him first, but slipped over the edge since he hadn't anchored himself to the bridge with anything. Sabo grabbed Ace's ankles, and I hopped over to grab Sabo's right as the boy would have slipped over too. I grunted, using my hard-earned strength to pull the rope of brothers up slowly but steadily, until each of us were back up and hurrying off the bridge before we could invite another near-disaster to happen.

Once on solid ground, we all flopped onto the snow and panted in relief for a long moment before getting up and trudging back to the bandit's hideout.

And there waiting for us at the front door was the same doctor as before. The four of us froze, my jaw clenched as I forced myself to take a deep breath of frigid air. I jolted at the sensation of warmth, looking over to see Sabo and Ace each had a hand on my shoulder, and Luffy had wrapped himself around my torso in a rubbery hug.

I smiled at the three of them, my courage and determination renewed at their comfort.

"I'll be fine," I said with a nod. The boys smiled widely at me as Ace smacked me on the back of my head,making me stumble a bit.

"Damn right," he confirmed happily. We shared a brief laugh before I tore Luffy off of me and walked up to face my checkup.

"Ready when you are, Doc," I greeted with a grin. The doctor kept her face blank, but i could see her eyes shining with a little wonder as she stared at me. Me, who she had told only three months earlier that two years was the longest she had left to live. Me, who was still walking when she should be feeling weak and faint.

The doctor pushed her glasses up er nose and led me to the bedroom I shared with the boys, going through the usual tests.

"...This is unprecedented," the doctor muttered when the tests were over. "There— there's been almost no progression. It still looks like you should only have another two years left, but that's exactly what it looked like last time I checked up on you," the doctor met my eyes. "What are you _doing?_ How are you alive?"

I smiled widely. "Never doubt the willpower of Monkey D. Garp's granddaughter," I replied, getting up and walking out, leaving a stunned doctor behind me. I almost ran right into my brothers, waiting there with anxious expressions. I smiled widely, crossing my arms.

"Another two years, she said," I told them with a chuckle. The boys sighed in relief before pumping their fists in the air in celebration.

"Woo! Let's go train so you can live another two years after that!" Luffy cheered. "But after dinner!"

I laughed, wondering why I had ever let the fear of my illness control me like it had for the almost the whole first ten years of my life before I met these boys.

—*—*—*—*—*

Makino showed up not more than a week or two after my checkup, bringing a pile of clothes and the grumpy old mayor of Foosha village with her. I had met the pretty woman before, but hadn't really ever said much to her. After all, I had only ever showed up to Dawn Island for training with Luffy and Gramps before I was dumped off with Dadan and the rest of the bandits. Therefore, I was just as awkward as my twin and my blonde brother as Luffy ran up to greet his mother figure.

The woman sheepishly held up a finger to her lips. "Ah. I'm happy to see you too, Luffy. But do me a favor, yeah? Keep this a secret from your grandfather. We aren't supposed to visit you," the motherly woman admitted softly, completely ignorant to the stupid bandits goggling her with heart-eyes in the background. I leaned over to the oldest brother, one eye back on the bandits.

"Oi. You two keep an eye on Luffy, I'll be right back," I whispered. They blinked at me.

"Huh?"

I patted their shoulders, not giving them an explanation, before turning and walking back to the group of gawking men. I cleared my throat, interrupting their babbling and making them look down at me. I took out my staff, holding it soundly in my hands as I swung it back and—

"SHUT UP YOU GREASY IDIOTS!" I knocked all their feet out from under them with one swift blow, getting sweet satisfaction from seeing them all slumped in a giant pile groaning in pain. "Hmph. I hope you've learned your lessons, perverts," I muttered as I retracted my staff and walked away. When I returned to my brothers, I saw that Makino had already pulled the two oldest of my brothers over to fit them for clothing. I covered my mouth to hide the laughter that wanted to bubble up when I saw their awkward faces as they stood shirtless in front of the woman.

My amusement was cut short when she finished with them and turned to me, smiling widely.

"Ah, Maven! I have some dresses and skirts for you, too. Heavy for winter of course—"

"NO!" I yelled, shivering in horror. "I don't even know how you guys can wear those things all the time!" I turned and tried to run away, but the woman wasn't having it. Somehow, her motherly instincts must have given her super speed because her hand was on my shoulder and she was pulling me back.

I glared evilly at my snickering brothers.

"Ohhh, if I end up with dresses you three will be who I take my anger out on for the next few days," I threatened darkly. Considering I was now winning most matches against Sabo and only lost half my matches against Ace nowadays, they gulped. No longer could they say I wouldn't be able to lay a hand on them, we were evenly matched. Except Luffy, he was still at the bottom.

I did not end up with dresses. Once I explained to a confused Makino that I had to train even more than the boys and couldn't let dresses or skirts restrict my movements, she pushed them to the side and only had me try on shirts, pants, and shorts. Some were still a bit girly, but that was fine. I was a bit of a tomboy, sure, but anyone who was raised in marine headquarters would end up like that. Still, I could deal with a couple flowers or a little pink. It wouldn't kill me.

—*—*—*—*—*

Spring was when it happened.

"I'm so powerful...I'm like a steam train with no breaks...I'm invincible, yeah I win every single game.." I muttered the lyrics as I trained. It was a habit, the song being from my old world and one of the few memories that didn't fade. I. Had to make some lyrical changes to fit the world I was in, but it didn't affect the song much. It was the song that kept me determined when my brothers weren't there to take that job over, the song I repeated whenever I was training even when I was a little kid back at the marine headquarters. I hefted my staff when my brothers, who were sparring with their pipes nearby, all dropped their weapons with a screech. I blinked at them, confused when they started to run away. I tilted my head, baffled until I could feel a hand grip my staff and take it from my grip. I swallowed hard, knowing only one person would make Luffy and Ace squeal like that. Sabo was intimidated, sure, but he didn't know the true horror of Gramps yet. I turned, and sure enough a hulking form with white hair and goatee stool there, holding my staff in one of his giant hands.

He waved, looking innocent for a moment in his Hawaiian shirt before he moved faster than I could follow and hit each of my brothers with a Fist of Love before they could run very far. I winced in sympathy. Gramps turned to us, and I decided to make my move. I pulled my hatchets out, jumping and swinging at his face.

Sure enough, he grabbed both of my hands easily and stopped my assault.

"Shitty geezer! Give me my staff back!"

"Why you—!" Gramps threw me down. "FIST OF LOVE!" I let out a strangled hiss as his fist came down hard on my head, making me writhe in pain alongside my siblings. "PORTGAS D. MAVEN! I THOUGHT I TAUGHT YOU BETTER MANNERS THAN THAT!"

"Why you!" I whirled up, noticing the shock on my brother's faces as Ace pointed at me in accusation.

"I knew it!"

"You shitty geezer, you told me to keep that a secret!" I hissed at our stupid grandfather, who just seemed to notice what he said. He blinked, then laughed. "Bwahaha! That's right! Forget what I said!"

"It's too late for that now, idiot!" We all yelled at him.

"Why does Maven have the same last name as Ace?" Luffy asked, tilting his head.

"Because she's my sister, idiot," Ace tried to explain.

"Yeah, I thought she was me and Sabo's sister too though."

"Wha— no, Luffy," Sabo chimed in. "He means they're related by blood."

"Eww blood is yucky," Luffy stuck out his tongue. I sighed, knowing he was a lost cause. My brothers sighed with me, likely coming to the same conclusion.

"She isn't just your sister, Ace," Gramps explained, hands crossed and with not just my staff, but my hatchets as well in his grasp. "She's your twin. Older by ten minutes, in fact."

Oh, that was news to me. A grin slowly spread over my lips as I turned to ace with a dark chuckle.

"Oh no," Ace muttered, going pale.

"You heard him, Ace. I'm ten minutes older," I cracked my knuckles. "That makes me the oldest. Which means you have to listen to me!"

"What?! No way!"

"Totally. Now the shorty geezer just has to give me back my weapons, and I can beat you down to prove that I'm the official oldest sibling, and you have to listen to me now!"

"That makes no sense!"

"Do you really want these little toys back?" Gramps suddenly chimed in, balancing all three of my weapons on one finger as he looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "I thought I'd give you something as a late birthday present."

I blinked. Oh yeah, me and Ace were eleven now. I had turned the new year's celebration into a birthday party for him, ignoring my own since I had lied to the boys and said I didn't remember mine. Sad that they had probably missed it, they had conceded to just celebrate extra-hard for me the next year when I decided to choose a day for it.

Suddenly I was angry, realizing Gramps hadn't said anything about Ace. I crossed my arms.

"I don't want a gift from you, shitty geezer, unless you have one for Ace too!" The old man blinked at that, clearly not having thought about a present for my twin. Ace had went still with shock next to me, but I ignored him. The poor boy had been neglected long enough. It was time for even the smallest family act from Garp, hell knew that Ace deserved far better but I would take whatever we could get.

Garp sighed. "Fine. I'll go into town to get a present for Ace tomorrow, if you'll listen to me now?" I nodded.

I didn't notice my brothers looking at me in awe for standing up to the old man. Not at all. I didn't blush at it, either.

"Well then," Gramps finally nodded in satisfaction before he pulled out the gift that had been hidden behind his broad back.

It was a battle axe. The blade was made of gleaming purple metal, and was clearly wickedly sharp. He handed it to me, and I was stunned to see that the black pole was perfect for my height. I. Looked up at him, unable to say a word. He huffed and looked away in embarrassment.

"You chose a battle axe as your weapon when you were nine, didn't you? Its one of the only weapons that is heavy enough to help you keep up your muscle mass without too much extra effort. You'll need plenty of practice to get good at it though," he pointed to the pole. "It extends, like your staff. When you get too tall for this size, just extend it to the proper length and lock it in place with the latch there," he pointed out the button on the bottom of the pole.

"Show me how determined you are to live now, all four of you! Come at me, its training time! Bwahahaha!"

— _ ***—*—*—*—***_

_**Woo.** _ **That was hard, damn. Okay, the lyrics mentioned will come up again later. They are NOT MINE, they are lyrics from the song** _**Unstoppable** _ **by Sia.**

**Sheesh. Okay guys, thanks for reading! This chapter was really hard to write geez. More plot next chapter, so look out for that! Also! You finally get to see Maven's laugh style! I wanted it to be similar to Ace's, but also unique. She's a bit calmer than her brothers, so it's a "heh" kind of laugh instead of the faster and louder "haha" or "hehehs". Hope you guys think it fits!**

**Until next chapter, bye~**


	5. Chapter 5

— ***—*—*—*—***

_Bang Bang Bang._

"There! Wait— Luffy don't just leave a screw sticking out, it won't even do anything in the middle of a plank of wood like that!" I walked over, sighing as I saw the decidedly less structurally sound area of the treehouse-in-construction that the four of us were making. Mine was the cleanest, most professionally looking area, though only because I had a better idea of what a proper building should look like. Sabo's was almost as good as mine, Ace's was passable. Luffy… oh, it was okay. Sabo and Ace made sure he didn't leave any holes, but there were screws and bent nails peeking out of the outside of the wall, and the planks were set down in just about every imaginable direction, even overlapping occasionally. But it was stable, so we could live with it.

The wood and metal mostly came from Grey terminal. It had taken some painful days to scavenge it all, but we had gotten it done. I say _we,_ but it was mostly the boys. I was busy practicing with my axe most of the time, trying to get the hang of the weapon. Practicing with staff and hatchets was all good in theory, but the actual weapon itself was still alien in my hands. It was slow going, but I was gradually learning how best to heave it's tremendous weight (the blade was huge, meant for an adult-sized axe for sure, so I wouldn't have to replace it later. It also meant that practicing with it could double as my weight training for the day!) and how to position it for the best damage.

And it had come in handy when we decided to make a treehouse and move out of Dadan's, too. I was just barely able to convince the boys to wait to move out until the house was finished, but it was a close call. While the boys were scavenging for materials in the dump, I was using my new weapon to cut down an old tree. It was large, as thick as the bandit's whole hideout and as all as the wall that wrapped around Goa. It had taken an entire week for me to chop through it, only "resting" for my daily hundred spars with the boys, mealtimes, and restroom breaks. But chop through it I did, and received massive satisfaction at the sound it made when it fell.

My whole body was stronger from it, and I had gained a whole new familiarity with my axe. I could feel it's length in my mind's eye, my aim with it was now far more accurate since I had a new knowledge of just how far it could reach and how it would hit when I swung it.

I could feel myself getting stronger, I could feel myself getting closer to the powerhouse I would have to become to make a name for myself in this massive world.

"Maven! You're already done?!" Sabo exclaimed, pulling me out of my thoughts. I blinked at him, then looked at the small addition I had built on a thick branch just to the left of the main treehouse, and nodded. This small building was entirely made of wood from the tree I was chopped down, making it look newer than the rest of the house.

"Yeah. I'll make a hallway leading to the main building right now," I told him simply, pulling up one of the planks I had cut from the tree. This one was larger, the size of an entire wall. I had cut the tree into large planks like that to limit the amount of hammering I had to do. I positioned the plank over the branch, and began hammering it into place.

—*—*—*—*—*

The treehouse was marvelous, much better than the little rinky-dink thing that had been in the manga. The main building was still the round, hobbled-together structure I remembered, but there was a pretty hallway stretching to my equally pretty building, set aside for me to use when I hit puberty. I just told the boys that I'd be a lot bigger as a teenager and would need my own space, which they bought. I pitied whoever would have to give the three innocent minds the sex/puberty talk, and I would make sure that that person was _not_ me.

In addition to my private room, I had added a second floor. And above the second floor, I had made a small lookout station— the better to use to keep an eye on any sudden approach of a certain white-haired old geezer menace. I rubbed my head with one hand and my shoulder with another— the injuries from his last visit still hurt.

"It's beautiful!" I praised loudly, arms swung wide open. The boys chuckled at my sides, but didn't argue. I could see the pride leaking off of them as they stared at the structure with me.

"I'll go write the note," Sabo offered, pulling a little stub of a pencil from his coat pocket that he had found in the dump. I nodded.

"Take Ace with you, you guys should steal some blankets and our futons. I don't want to sleep on anything from the dump unless I can boil and wash it first," the blonde nodded while Ace grumbled.

"Bossy," he muttered, but I could tell by the mischief in his eyes that he was just trying to get under my skin. "Find out you're a whole _ten minutes_ older and you suddenly act like you're our leader or something," he smirked widely. "But really, you being the oldest just means I was right. You really are just an old hag!" He cackled and ran off before I could punch him, fleeing with Sabo in the direction of the bandit's hut.

I huffed, but couldn't wipe a grin from my face as I turned to Luffy. "Well then, little bro. Looks like we're on dinner duty, what do you feel like eating?"

"Boar! No, bear! No, Lion!"

"How about we catch a boar, and then we catch whatever other big animal we come across next? I wanna test out my axe against an animal," I told him as we started to walk off, my battle axe resting over one shoulder easily.

"Oooh! I haven't gotten to see you fight with your axe yet! What's its name?"

"Name?" I looked down at him, raising an eyebrow. Luffy tilted his head up so the brim of his iconic straw hat didn't hide his face from me (I was a whole foot taller than him!) as he nodded eagerly.

"Makino used to tell me stories about all the famous pirates and fighters. She said the strongest weapons all have names, and you're gonna be the strongest girl in the world so your axe should have a name too!"

I hummed in thought. "You know what? You're right! Now, what would be a good name?"

"Purple lion bear!"

"...no."

"Shiny tree purple!"

"No…"

—*—*—*—*—*

"Stormfall?" My oldest two brothers tilted their heads as we sat around our dinner fire that night, a large caterpillar thing that Luffy and I had managed to find roasting over it. I nodded as I wiped a cloth over the blade of my battle axe.

"Yeah. When I used it to catch the boar, Luffy said it looked like a purple waterfall when I swung it down. So I thought, it's like a waterfall but made of storms. Deadly, pretty, and you can't stop it no matter how hard you try," I smiled a little at my reflection in the violet metal. "And a waterfall is at the end of rivers, it's only fitting that the weapon held by someone who's sick with a deadly disease has a name based off the death of rivers."

"Morbid." Sabo, Ace, and Luffy chorused. I stuck my tongue out at them. They said that whenever I made a comment about my illness, which was probably more often than what was healthy.

—*—*—*—*—*

Summer. Almost a full year since Luffy and I had first been dropped off at Dadan's house. I dropped down from the treehouse that I had been living in with my brothers for almost a full three months, facing a familiar doctor for the fourth time. She had her things set out in the open, since she wasn't going to lug them up the tree into my home, and I clearly wasn't going to go back to Dadan's for the checkup.

"Come on, Maven," she called out. She had softened a bit around me since that visit in Winter, no longer stiff and overly professional. "A necessary evil, I'm afraid. We have to make sure you're staying healthy." I grumbled, but didn't argue. My brothers all came down from the treehouse one by one, sitting down in front of it.

They had never been allowed to watch before, but neither I or the doctor would stop them. So they watched silently, even Luffy, as I went through the tests that had become routine. I had memorized them by then, probably would have been able to do them myself if I had all the equipment ready, everything was _that_ familiar to me.

Finally, the doctor sat back once she looked at the results of the last test in her hands.

"I don't know how you do it," the woman said, shaking her head as if trying to figure it out would only give her a headache. "But you're still managing to keep the disease from progressing. It isn't going away, not by a long shot. Look here," the woman pointed to a graph. She must have decided that eleven years old was old enough to finally start explaining the simpler things to me about the tests. "This shows the shape of the muscles. If they were smooth, like they are supposed to be, the graph would have all the bars at the same height. But they aren't, which means the disease is still eating at your muscles and messing up the shape. But it isn't getting farther along, which means that you are somehow making muscle faster than it can eat it. It looks like another two years," the doctor let out a breathy sort of sound, halfway between a sigh and a laugh. "Though I'm beginning to think that will only be true if you're chained to a bed for the whole time. Keep living, Maven," the woman stood up and began to gather her things. "One day the disease will be moving too fast for you to out pace it, but I've grown rather fond of you. So live as long as you can, stubborn girl. Live longer than all your enemies, at the least."

We waited until she was gone, and it was silent for a moment before Luffy ruined it.

"FOOD! I'm hungry."

Ace nodded, standing up. "Let's celebrate another two years, then. We'll go into town today," Sabo was already up when Ace said this, getting the cloak ready. I smiled at them. I had the best damned family ever, they knew when I needed something special to lift my spirits up. A dine-and-dash was exactly what I needed. I went up to leave my axe in the treehouse, couldn't exactly carry such a huge weapon into town. It would attract too much attention.

I should have brought my Axe. Screw how much attention it would have brought. The four of us managed to eat a fantastic dinner, followed by the mild mugging of some hooligans so we could steal their money. We didn't get much, barely a thousand bellies, but it was a drop to add to the bucket. We had started our trek through Grey terminal when we were surrounded.

I had warned them. Almost every man was stronger than Porchemy. Not by much, but by enough to make a difference. It was barely five minutes after the pitiful fight started that we were all beat and tossed down. I clenched my jaw tightly. Greasy Man, Sabo's poor excuse for a father, came waltzing out. He took every step as if the very ground was an insult to him, and I somehow knew he'd be throwing out those impossibly expensive blue leather shoes later simply because they had touched the ground of the trash heap. Bluejam, the captain of the stupid assholes who had surrounded us, was holding the only one of us who hadn't been touched.

Sabo.

"GIVE SABO BACK! BLUEJAM!" Luffy yelled at the man. It was the first time I had seen Luffy angry, truly angry. But it didn't affect me much since I was the same. I ignored the stupid bigoted ramblings of Greasy Man, closing my eyes tightly as I forced my mind to work. I had thought of plans before, but none of them would actually work right then, unfortunately. I needed a new plan. A good one. How could I make sure all four of us got out safely?

…

I couldn't. I took a deep breath, opening my eyes as the conversation faded back in.

"THE HELL DID YOU SAY?!" Ace was hissing, pissed off. I took the moment to lock eyes with Sabo, who was starting to wriggle again when Ace was hit. I shook my head subtly, seeing Sabo's eyes widen in shock and confusion. My gaze darted to my brothers, then to the pirates, then back to Sabo.

 _Pretend. Sneak out later._ I mouthed to him. He stilled, seeming to understand me. After a long moment where he seemed to be battling himself, he nodded. I let out a sigh of relief.

"I leave the rest to you pirates," Greasy Man was saying. Sabo's eyes darted back to me as he began to panic again, but a quick shake of my head made him still again.

 _Go. We'll be fine._ I mouthed. He gulped, swallowing his words, and nodded.

"Come along, Sabo," Greasy man beckoned as he began to walk away. It took one more nod from me before Sabo clenched his fists and followed without a word.

"SABO!" Ace and Luffy screamed after him, frantic. Luffy wouldn't understand yet, I'd have to explain when we got back to the treehouse. But Ace…

I grabbed his wrist, cutting off Ace's words. I winked at him, making him blink in confusion.

"It's okay," I whispered to him. "I got a plan. Sabo's following it," Ace was still panicked, but he relaxed slightly under my hand. "Keep yelling though, we need to pretend," I told him. My head was still bowed, keeping the pirates from seeing that I was talking. Ace didn't nod, but he kept yelling after Sabo with Luffy, so I knew he decided to listen to me. Eventually, the Greasy Man and our blonde brother were gone. I forced myself to tremble, catching Ace and Luffy's attention. The pirates circled around us. Without Sabo's deal to spare our lives, they were planning on killing us right then and there.

"Maven?! Maven, are you okay?!" Luffy yelled, coming over and shaking me. Yeah, that wouldn't have helped if I had actually not been okay. But oh well.

"Maven? What's wrong?! Maven?!" Even Ace was worried, looking over at me with wide eyes. I ignored them both once I felt tears slip down my face. The stage was set.

I swung my face up to the pirates around us, looking like an emotional wreck. "Please! Please don't hurt us!" I wailed loudly, making the pirates chuckle. In their eyes I was just a little girl, maybe a bit more feisty than most, but a little girl nonetheless. They expected me to be weak, so that's what I would make them think. "Y-you guys are still missing your treasure, right?! Th-the money we stole from you?!" Ace stiffened next to me, and I knew he realized my plan. Luffy didn't catch on.

"What?! Maven, that's our treasure! We're saving for a ship!" Luffy argued, angry at me now. I ignored them even as Ace joined in, acting like he was angry as he pretended to get mad and try to get me to shut up.

"If I tell you where it is, will you let us go?!" I added in a few sobs for good measure. "Please?!" Blue jam looked down at me, his ugly lips spread in what was probably supposed to look like a calm smirk. Instead, it ended up looking like a pedophile's grin and made me hold back a cringe.

The vile man knelt in front of me, putting one of his dirty hands under my chin to tilt my head up so our eye met.

"Well, if you aren't lying to me… then I don't see why not," he agreed in a sly drawl. Yeah, not buying that. He would probably try to kill us by trapping us in the fire that he was going to start in Grey Terminal, just like he had planned in the manga. "You three will have to stay with me until my men come back with it, and don't be mistaken girl. I'll kill you if I find out that you're lying."

"I'm n-not! Honest!" I blubbered, trying to channel my inner Luffy. "It's in the woods! O-on the fourth tree in if you go right up that hill," I pointed to the right spot. Luffy went silent, catching on. He knew the spot I was telling them about. Luckily, Ace was close enough to cover the fool's mouth if it looked like he was about to say anything that would blow my plan. "The tree is marked with the letters AS carved into the trunk about five feet high, the treasure is hidden on the first large branch on that tree, under a trap door. It should be easy to see the edges. It's all there, I swear! Just d-don't kill us!"

Bluejam nodded to his men, and three of them broke off to check where I had told them. Meanwhile, he had two of his other men pick us up, one carrying ace and the other getting me and Luffy. They took us to a ramshackle hut next to his ship, which was completely on dry and and too far from the water to hope of getting back to sea. I had no idea how it had gotten so far on land, but it didn't matter.

He had us each stand in front of him as he sat on a giant plush blue seat that was some meld between a bean bag and a sofa as he grabbed and opened a bottle of booze for himself.

Sure enough, after his stupid talk about joining his crew that was quickly shot down by my brothers (I still refused to say a word, pretending to be the scared little girl still), he pulled out a stack of maps and handed us one. His men came back with the pile of treasure from our dummy stash right then, setting the small pile of money on his seat next to him. He grinned, forced himself to stop, and counted what was there. Once he was done, he leveled a painfully fake regretful look at us.

"I thought you would have had more. See. There's the money you took from us, sure… but there isn't enough extra to buy your lives. But I'll tell you what," he leaned forward so he was closer to us. "If you help me out with a little job, I'll consider us even. Those papers I gave you are maps of all of Grey Terminal. Just carry some boxes to the Xs marked on the map, easy."

The boys hesitated, and I could tell Luffy was about to deny. So I raised my head and forced myself to tremble again.

"We'll do it!" I told him, sending an obvious glance to Ace. "Don't listen to whatever my stupid brothers might say, we'll do it!"

"Gohoho, good," Bluejam leaned back, and dismissed us.

—*—*—*—*—*

I had two boxes stacked in front of me, the first one turned so the flag on it was pointing to the side and not in the way. I was tall enough that it didn't block my sight too badly, and it was better than waddling around with one on either arm like Ace. And Luffy… I did not have the balance to walk with one on my head, so that was out.

I slowly slowed my footsteps down until I was at the back of the group of people sent to distribute the boxes. It took a minute, but Luffy and Ace turned when they finally noticed my absence, trotting back to me.

"Why are you so slow, Maven? This was your idea!" Ace hissed lowly at me. I glared at him.

"Be quiet! It was the easiest way to get us all out of trouble. Now make sure nobody can see us," I swiftly ducked behind a mound of trash, setting my boxes down gently. Ace and Luffy frowned, not understanding me, but did as I said before following anyway. Once they did, I glanced up and pointed to their boxes. "Put those down."

"Maven? What are you doing?" Luffy asked, eyebrows wrinkled as I took a piece of metal from the trash mound near me and used it to pry the lid off the box.

"Hush. The map was weird," I frowned. Honestly, the plan was far too obvious. Ace and Luffy didn't catch on because they were both young and simple minded, but I was technically an adult. The marks on the map were far to obviously placed, I would have figured it out even with my prior knowledge of what was happening.

Once I got the lid loose, I gently pried it off. "I don't know about you boys, but I think it's really weird to decide to let us go if all we do is put boxes down around the Heap for him. The boxes have to be special then, and the place marks have to mean something.." I trailed off as I saw what was inside the crate. "I knew it."

"Knew wha—" Ace trailed off as he saw. "Is that… oil?"

"Ace, cover Luffy's mouth," I ordered, looking up at them sternly. Ace frowned, but did as I asked. "See those things?" I pointed to box shapes next to the cans of oil. "Those are explosives. The marines showed me all sorts so that I'd know what to look out for, its standard knowledge since pirates are known for blowing things up every now and then," I told them. I pulled one of the maps Bluejam had given us from my pocket, unrolling it and laying it out on the floor. "Look. If explosives like these go off at all the spots, it will surround the heap in flames!"

Luffy began struggling against age, letting loose very loud mumbles of anger as Ace tightened his hold. That was why I had asked him to cover Luffy's mouth, I knew the idiot wouldn't understand that we had to be quiet before we were found out.

"They're gonna light the whole trash heap on fire!" Ace whispered, anger in his voice. I nodded. "We have to warn everyone!"

"Wait!" I grabbed his hand, making my brothers focus on me. "Bluejam said we'll be doing this for a few days. We can't warn everybody right now, or there will be a panic. Then the fire will just happen anyway when it settles down. We can't stop the fire, but we'll warn people the day that Bluejam says we're done, okay?" Ace and Luffy slowly nodded.

"But we won't be able to warn everybody. What about the people we can't get to?" Ace asked, finally letting go of our youngest brother once it looked like Luffy had calmed down. I pointed to the map.

"We have to clear an exit. We'll continue placing the boxes down like they tell us, we can't be found out or we'll be killed. But at night we'll sneak back and go to one of the first spots that we put these explosives at," I pointed to one such spot, which was close to the forest. "We'll move those boxes to one of the other spots, and pile up metal in between the mounds of trash and on the ground so it stays clear and doesn't catch on fire. If we're lucky, we can do that for two spots before the explosives go off. The rest is up to the people who live here," I told them, rolling the map back up, putting it in my pocket, and putting the lid back on the box of death.

"Okay. Let's do it!" Luffy said determinedly. I sighed, smiling at him.

"But quietly, Luffy. Nobody can know. We have to act like spies."

"Spies. Got it. Quiet. Got it."

"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him Maven."

—*—*—*—*—*

The few days passed by slowly, each one harder and more stress-inducing to get by than the last. It was a struggle to keep Luffy quiet and acting normal enough to not draw attention. We managed to keep two passes free of explosives and lined in metal as well as possible, so all we could do was hope that they would stay clear of fire long enough to save lives.

The day the fire was to happen, I kept the boys in the treehouse. Bluejam had announced that that would be the last day we'd have to stack boxes, so I told them it would be best if we skipped out since he would probably try to double-cross us. So we stayed in our treehouse, too far up Mount Colubo for that stupid Toejam to find us. And we waited for the sun to reach noon. Once it did, we slowly headed down to the Trash Heap.

We snuck around, spreading the news of the fire to come as quickly and quietly as we could. Before sunset, I sent boys back to the treehouse ahead of me.

"I'm gonna use the fire to sneak over the wall," I told them softly. "I have Stormfall, don't worry," I patted my weapon on my back. "It can cut through stone pretty easily. I'll use it to scale the wall while everyone's attention is on the fire, and I'll try to get Sabo out."

"What if he's happier there?" Ace asked, pessimistic as always, even if he was getting a lot better. I gave him my best deadpan.

"If he is, then I'll come back without him. But he isn't. He ran away and lived in the trash heap, of all places, because he hated it with his parents so much. I'll come back with him."

I turned and jogged around the perimeter of Grey Terminal without waiting for a response. Once I found a spot that was far enough to the side to not be in the direct view of anyone near the gate, I swung Stormfall.

The blade rang through the air, and I pulled it back so that it just chipped the stone deeply instead of cutting so deep that it stuck. Pleased, I stuck my foot in the foothold I had just made, and readjusted my grip.

Stormfall was a battle axe, so it had a spear tip at the end of the pole, jutting out between the butterfly-like winged axe blades. I stabbed that spear tip into the rock, pulled it out then stabbed it in again a few inches further to the side. Once that was done, I pulled myself up using the Axe and its firm hold in the rock to keep me up as if I was doing pull ups, and carefully fit my foot into the first hole I had made with the spear tip. I pulled out one of my old hatchets, I had sharpened it the night before for just this job, and stuck it into the wall so I could keep my balance.

And thus, I started my slow trek up the Wall.

My whole body burned by the time I reached the top. The burning was one that I had come to associate as victory, as proof that I was building the muscle that my body was trying to take from me. I allowed myself to revel in that feeling as I sat on the top of the wall, trying to ignore the burning in my lungs from the effort it had taken to climb. Lack of breath still scared me, even eleven years after my death.

Once my lungs had stopped burning, I slung Stormfall over my shoulder into its holster and turned. Placing my hatchet just far enough into the stone to slow my descent rather that stop it, I slid off and left myself to gravity.

I left my hatchet in the wall as I let go to free fall the last ten feet, landing nimbly with the ease of years of tree climbing and military training behind me. I ducked my way around the outskirts of town, avoiding the men in gas masks that roamed around to "evacuate" any stragglers. After quite some time, I became able to follow a very familiar voice. I slid into a clearing, eyes wide as I saw a familiar blond clutching at the pants of a cloaked figure. I knew who that man was, who he had to be, but I had to shove my memories aside. Now was not the time.

"I'M ASHAMED TO HAVE BEEN BORN A NOBLE!"

My heart clenched. I felt my legs moving before I could stop them, and was beside the two before I could completely register that I had moved.

"Idiot!" I yelled, causing both of them to look over at me. My eyes caught on the man's red tattoo, but I rocked my eyes away and onto Sabo.

"M-maven?" He weakly stammered, voice filled with hope and confusion. "What..?"

"Don't be ashamed!" I yelled at him, not letting him finish. "Don't you dare! The other nobles might be more disgusting than any slop in the Trash Heap, but you aren't! You're only you because you were born a noble, you wouldn't be the same person otherwise!" I clenched my hands into fists. "You're kind and smart and a goddamned great fighter. You're my brother! And I won't let you be ashamed of who you are, got it?! Just because you were born noble doesn't mean you're blind like the rest of them, you see how vile they are just like I do! So don't be ashamed! Stand up and become someone who can change the world!"

Sabo was staring at me, as was the man with the all-too-recognizable tattoo. My brother teared up, sniffling.

"Okay!" He blubbered. "Okay!"

"...You are both too mature for your age," a deep voice interrupted us, making me swing my eyes to the cloaked male. Sabo perked up again.

"Maven! Ace and Luffy—"

"Should be fine," I interrupted him, my eyes still on the cloaked figure, I hadn't missed how he shifted at Luffy's name. "We found out about the fire a few days ago, and we set up escape routes in secret. We spent all day warning people, too," I told him. "They should be back at the treehouse by now. They better be, at least, or else I'll hit them both with the flat side of Stormfall," I threatened, patting my axe on my back.

"Girl, you…"

"Dragon, I've completed the preparations..!" A new voice called out just as Sabo collapsed, probably from both exhaustion and pain. If only I was a little older, I would have tracked down whoever hurt him and given them hell. As it was though, I had too much to focus on.

The cloaked figure stood up slowly, eyes on me. "... good," he said to the new figure, who I hadn't even glanced over at. "My name is Dragon," he introduced himself quietly to me. I smirked at him.

"I know," I replied. "Gramps raised me at Marineford for almost the first ten years of my life. My name is Maven," I paused and chuckled. "Zeh heh heh. Gol D. Maven, to be exact."

Dragon had taken my admission in stride,only widening his eyes before returning my smirk with one of his own. I slung Sabo over my back, looking up at him.

"Sabo belongs with me and our brothers Ace and Luffy," I told him, pretending to not know exactly who he was to Luffy. No need to seem even stranger to this all too perceptive man, knowing more than I should about him would put me in too dangerous a position. "I'll take him back with us," I grabbed sabo's hat and handed it to Dragon. "If you'll throw that over into the fire, please? If his parents think he's dead, it will work out for us."

Dragon looked at the hat, then back to me, then at the boy on my back. I grinned. "If you want to talk to us, we live in a treehouse on Mount Colubo, near the hideout for the Dadan bandits."

"... Ivan can take you back over the wall," Dragon offered, but I shook my head.

"I need the exercise, trust me. I haven't been getting enough this past week, not with this fire to deal with," I told him as I took Sabo's tailcoat, which I had taken off of him before putting him on my back, and used it to tie him to me. "Can't let myself lose my muscle mass."

With that, I walked back to where my hatchet was stuck into the wall, holding Stormfall in one hand.

"Okay. You can do this, Maven. I'm unstoppable. I'm a steam train with no breaks… I'm invincible, yeah I win every single game.."

—*—*—*—*—*

The forest at night was calm. It was bustling with activity, but by then everything had found out that my brothers and I were best left alone, so we hadn't been bothered as I carried my brother to the treehouse. I smiled at the sight of Ace and Luffy sleeping leaning over each over at the base of the tree, where we would have to climb over them to reach the ladder.

Deciding i didn't have enough energy for another climb of any sort anyway, I just plopped Sabo down next to them and fell down to pass out sprawled over all of their laps.

It was one of the best sleeps of my life.

I woke up staring into a red tattoo, and probably made the ugliest face in my life. I wasn't one to make sounds often when I was scared, but I made faces as I silently panicked instead. I wasn't sure which one was better, honestly.

Nonetheless, Dragon backed off once he saw he had succeeded in waking me up and gave the most hidden smile I had ever seen as he looked over us with faint amusement. I rolled off of my brother's laps, rubbing my eyes as I tried to shed the last bit of sleep. I wouldn't be going back ot it anytime soon, anyway.

"Maven! You- what— how?" Sabo stammered as he looked around. He must have just woken up as well, and hadn't quite let it sink in just where he was yet.

"Our Sabo. Not theirs. Ours," I muttered, sleep still trying to claim me again. My everything was _sore._ I didn't want to be awake yet. Why didn't I take up the offer of Ivan bringing us back over? Stupid pride.

I heard the sounds of our dark haired brothers starting to wake up as well, and stood up as I looked over at Dragon.

"I'm guessing you don't want them to see you, Mr. sneaking around in a cloak?" I asked dryly, earning a small snort from the male as he nodded, gesturing for both Sabo and I to follow him.

Once we got far enough away, he sat down on a rock so he was a bit closer to our height before speaking.

"I'm starting up a revolution," his low, quiet voice stated simple, as if it was a normal thing to declare. "This whole world government is rotten, people don't question enough whether their world is right anymore. Nobody tries hard enough to make anything better," his hard eyes met ours. "The two of you have seen the worst of this world with your own eyes. I can't change the world without an army, but I will only use people who truly believe in change. Who need it. Who join because they share a desire for a new world," his eyes settled on Sabo. "A world where children aren't ashamed of their birth. Where children aren't judged by the actions of their parents," his eyes slid to me. I grinned at him.

"Sounds like Sabo's thing,"I said easily, slapping my little brother over the shoulder.

"Wha? Maven?!" Sabo squawked.

"Oh come on, Sabo. Someone wouldn't tell us this if they didn't plan on asking us to join," I told him with a raised eyebrow. "I heard about Dragon-San back at Headquarters. He's the real deal. And I told you to grow up to become someone who could change the world, didn't I? Zeh Hehhehheh!" I ruffled his hair, specifically because I knew he hated it. "This sounds like just the way to do it!"

Dragon watched us both closely. "What about you, Gol D. Maven?" Sabo froze under my hand, looking over at me with wide eyes.

"Hush, that's a secret," I told Dragon with a frown. "Ace doesn't like our father. We go by our mother's name, Portgas. I only told you our father's family name so you'd understand." Understand just who his son had adopted as his family. "And as for your offer, I have to decline. I promised to be Luffy's first mate once he sets sail to become a pirate," I told him cheerily.

"I can't go! I, I, what about you three?!" Sabo asked frantically. I snorted.

"Please, I'll look out for them. It's my job as the oldest, after all. This would be good for you."

"Its way too sudden!" Sabo argued back.

"Then take time to think about it," Dragon interrupted, bringing our attention back to the quiet man as he stood up. "My people and I can't stay here too much longer. It's far too dangerous, especially with the World Noble visiting today. How long do you need before you have an answer?"

Sabo looked at me, then at the ground as a very small smile came over him. "I really do like your idea, Dragon-San," he said softly, and I could hear the truth mixed with a small hint of mischief in his voice. "But you see, Maven is sick. And I can't just leave my sick sister right now… The doctor said she has two years left, so I'll wait it out for two years and tell you my answer."

My lips twitched. It seemed like two years would be the inside joke of our family, then. I felt glad to have inspired such a thing, even morbid as the origin was. Dragon nodded simply.

"Two years, then, Sabo. I look forward to see the name you make for yourself in the future, Portgas D. Maven."

—*—*—*—*—*

**GEEZE THAT ENDING. I was already creatively starting to feel drained, so it probably isn't as good as it could be and ended up a little sudden. Sorry :/ oh well. I'm eager to get past their childhoods though, as much as I love the little family. I have so many plans for them after they set sail but before the storyline starts, so many original plot lines being birthed in my head… I can't wait! Oh my goodness so much i want to write for this story!**

**That's it for this chapter, thank you for reading! See you next chapter~**


	6. Chapter 6

I changed too much too fast. That was why the world decided to knock me on my ass a bit, show me that I was being too cocky.

That's why the hunk of meat slipped out of my hands that afternoon, a week after the fire. The boys stared at me, I _never_ dropped meat. I was almost as bad as Luffy when it came to making sure food was never wasted. But there the hunk sat, gathering dirt on the ground.

My hands wouldn't form fists.

I panicked. This wasn't supposed to happen. It wasn't! My words were not bullshit, I would become a badass powerhouse and make a name for myself, I would be Luffy's first mate, I'd keep changing the world!

But my hands wouldn't obey me.

"Maven! Maven, take a deep breath. Deep breaths! Ace, Luffy, go to Dadan's and tell them we need the doctor! Now!" Sabo yelled out. He had been studying Ursurper's for the past couple days so that he's be able to help me better, he said.

My hands wouldn't close. Why wouldn't they close? I would feel them… they were there. I could feel the heat of Sabo's hands as he cupped mine, as he shook my hands to try to get my attention. But all I could do was twitch them. Twitch as hard as I could.

I couldn't swing Stormfall without my hands and fingers. I couldn't slap Luffy or Ace when they were being idiots. I couldn't steal treasure for our stash, or punch someone who tried to ambush us on our way through the Dump. I _needed_ my hands. I needed them, and they weren't listening to me.

"Maven! Calm down, you're panicking! Don't hyperventilate— Maven!"

"Get your head out of the clouds, kid. You won't survive if you can't focus on what needs to be done," a familiar female voice called out sharply, making me jolt to attention. I swung my eyes up to her, the doctor I saw every season. She was in her home clothes, a loose shirt and pajama pants under a light green knit cardigan. Luffy probably ran with Dogura or one of the other bandits and dragged her here. The thought of my sibling's antics calmed me. I took a deep breath, getting a nod of approval from the doctor.

"Good. Give me your hands, I need to check how much strength you have left in them," she spoke sternly, not at all like the soft voices I had been spoken to with from other doctors. It grounded me. I needed the harshness to wake me up, to keep me from slipping into panic again. The woman grabbed my hands, twisting them to and fro and asking for me to do simple things. Can you flex your thumb? Can you wiggle your fingers? How far can you bend your pinkie?

"It's not hopeless," she spoke finally, sitting back on the balls of her feet. "Not for you. For anyone else, probably. But I have a good measure of you, miss Maven. You will need to work your finger muscles specifically, your palm muscles are still in tact almost completely. It's a common mistake, of unfortunately. Finger muscles are hard to train on their own."

"How can we help her get her strength back?" Ace asked, voice small. I could see the burning worry mixing with equally hot hatred in his eyes, and I knew what was happening. He was blaming our father. Our father had the disease first, likely it was his fault I had come down with it as well. But Ace didn't need much of a reason to hate our father even more. I wish I could do something, but I couldn't even feed myself at that moment.

"The fingers stopped responding because of a slight loss of muscle over a certain threshold—" yeah, good luck getting any of the boys other than Sabo to understand that, lady. "If we can get her stress balls, maybe rubber bands too. Here," the woman pulled out a thousand belly note, handing it to Ace. "The Gates should still be open. Go into town, and go to a toy store. There should be soft foam balls, get a few in different sizes. Ones that can be held in your palm, and then some that are a little bigger. If you can find rubber bands too, that would help."

Ace and Sabo shared a look, clearly not understanding how these things would help, but nodded anyway.

"Sabo," I spoke up, my voice hoarse. Apparently my panic and hyperventilating had made my throat sore. "Sabo should stay here… too dangerous in city," I didn't want his father to find him. They nodded, Ace and Luffy taking off towards town as our blonde brother sat himself next to me. He looked up at the doctor with wide eyes.

"How can I help? Waiting will only make the damage to her muscles worse, right?"

The doctor blinked, then offered a small grin. "Absolutely right. Hold your hand out in a fist," she instructed Sabo, who did as asked. The woman turned to me. "Okay Maven. Place one hand over Sabo's fist," I took a deep breath to settle my nerves, then did as asked. "Now squeeze as hard as you can, try to squish his fist out of shape, try to get his fingers to flatten out," she ordered. "While you're doing that, give me your other hand."

I was trying (and failing) to squeeze Sabo's fist flat as the doctor held my other hand palm up. She placed her fingertips on mine, pushing down gently and telling me to try and push her fingers up and away, pretending her fingertips were little weights for my fingers.

Two hours passed of doing this, and I had switched hands twice already between the two exercises. I could already feel a little strength come back, but not enough to ward off my slowly reviving panic. Where were Ace and Luffy?

The answer came a few moments later, in the form of a beat up Ace carrying a small bag over one arm and an even more beat up Luffy over his back. He looked up.

"Doc. Luffy's cut, could you help him?" He looked over at me, guilt swimming in his irises. "Sorry, Maven. I couldn't protect him well enough. Here," he plopped the bag of foam balls in front of me, and I peered in to see a pile of rubber bands in there too. I slowly picked two balls, one pink and one powder blue, out of the bag that were the right size to fit in my fist. I had regained enough strength in my fingers to hold them loosely, and didn't waste any time squeezing them in my hands as hard as I could, over and over again. My fingers were starting to feel sore, but I wouldn't stop until I could hold something firmly again.

"Keep it up for two more hours, Maven," the doctor absently told me as she laid my youngest brother out on a blanket Sabo had fetched from our treehouse. There were lots of cuts on Luffy's arms and legs, and a bad one across his chest. I clenched my teeth, my squeezes getting a bit harder with anger and worry.

"What happened?" I asked Ace, who sat and ran a hand through his messy hair.

—*—*—*—*—*

Two hours earlier

Ace and Luffy ran through the woods, hopping over exposed roots and ducking under branches and around wildlife with expert ease that was pushed forward by desperation. Luffy felt worry settle in his chest, just like Ace could. Luffy didn't understand it. He couldn't understand the doctor's explanations or her long words, but he didn't need to to know the basics. Maven's illness ate muscle. Muscle let you hold things. Maven couldn't hold her meat. Maven's finger muscles were being eaten.

It wasn't good to _be_ food rather than eat it, Luffy knew that much. Maven needed her hands to eat and to tickle him and ruffle his hair in that way he hates so much. She needed her hands to hold her awesome axe and lift the animals they caught for mealtimes. They needed to help her be able to use her hands again, no matter what.

Ace had a bit of a better understanding. The fingers would just be the start. It could be that Maven didn't work her fingers out as much, or it could be that the disease was working faster. Regardless, if it worked past her fingers then there would be more of the disease to eat at her other muscles too. That was unacceptable. She was supposed to stand by his side, she was supposed to do great things and show the world that the both of them _meant something_ no matter who their father was. That they were just as much worthy of life as anyone else. Demon children or not.

So they rushed. They rushed past the slowly rebuilding a piles of trash of Grey Terminal, still reeking of smoke. They darted through the gates, past the groping hands of the guards that tried to keep them back. They wound through the streets of the city until they were in Central District, the only place they'd be able to find a decent toy store with what they needed.

But Sabo's father saw them. He had been frantically searching for his stupid, worthless, idiot son all week. The hat that had been found in the ruins of the Dump hadn't been brought to him yet, and even if it was he wasn't likely to believe it right away. He had thought his son dead before, only to be wrong. He was operating on the assumption that the same would be true this time as well.

So he gathered policemen and guards from the Gate the moment he saw those two stupid commoner boys his son had been with. The boys had been about to enter a store in Central District when an officer came out, catching both of them by a hand and dragging them into an alleyway safely out of sight. Sabo's father stood there, looking down his nose at those disgusting urchins.

"Honestly, I shouldn't have expected those idiot pirates to get a job done right, even one so easy as killing you. But I suppose this works in my favor. You are going to tell me where you took my son."

"WHAT?! LEAVE SABO ALONE!" Luffy yelled. Ace trembled in anger next to him.

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS SHIT!" Ace shouted. Both were knocked down easily by an officer. What followed was one and a half hours of beatings, somewhere along the way one of the guards had pulled a knife. They had found out about Luffy's rubber body.

"Don't get blood on me," Sabo's father hissed in disgust and warning. "It's in your best interests to tell me where my idiot son is. He has a duty to carry out the wishes of his parents, and I will not allow him to spend any more time with you urchins. But if you tell me where he is, you get to live."

They said nothing, but Ace's anger continued to build as they cut Luffy. Sabo's father's patience was running thin. These boys were too stubborn. They couldn't be broken by such mild means.

That was when he saw the fire in the older boy's eyes. And the solution came to mind rather easily. He looked over at the rubber one. "Kill him. See if his friend is willing to talk when they see how serious we are."

A knife was raised to stab Luffy in the chest.

Ace broke.

"I SAID STOP IT, YOU BASTARDS! WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS SHIT!" A wave of power swept out with his words, hitting everyone in the alley. The attempt to stab Luffy halted mid strike, making the weapon instead slice across his chest to make an ugly but easily treatable wound. The men fell one after the other, until only Luffy, Ace, and Sabo's asshole father were still awake. Luffy was stumbling, trying to stay standing after the combination of the hit from the energy, his worry for Maven, and the pain of the stab and slice wounds all over him.

The noble man was trembling.

"What have you done?! Get up, you idiots! He's just a child!"

"Stop. Stalling. Us!" Ace growled out each word, picking up a pipe laying by the wall and landing a very satisfying _whack_ to the man's head.

Once the man was out, Ace put the pipe down and quickly went to Luffy, checking over his wounds and grimacing at the amount of blood covering his brother's skin. Luffy's tight hold around his wrist stopped Ace's movements, making him freeze and meet his little brother's sharp glare.

"'M fine. Get the stuff for Maven."

They stared each other down for a long moment before Ace nodded, slipping out of the alley to quickly buy everything that had been asked for from the toy store. Slinging the bag of his purchases over on arm, he slung his exhausted little brother over his back and began the journey back to the treehouse and their sibling in need.

—*—*—*—*—*

"His wounds aren't serious, but they'll sting for a while," the doctor's voice cut through the end of Ace's story. "The worst one doesn't even need stitches, I doubt he'll scar at all. Let him rest though," she pushed her glasses up her nose and turned her attention to me.

The foam ball in my hand was squished halfway down. She nodded in satisfaction. "Very fast recovery, as I expected. Keep this in mind, Maven," the doctor's voice grew serious. Her gaze swept over Ace and Sabo, telling them without words that what she was about to say was important for them to remember, too. "Most people recover by resting, like this boy," she gestured to Luffy. "But for you, too much rest will be fatal. If you are ever bedridden for an injury or some other illness, you need to continue doing little exercises with your fingers and toes at the least. That's where the disease will hit first, as you saw today," she explained. "You are in a unique position. You will recover faster if you stay in motion and exercising. You still need rest, so don't overwork yourself, but six or seven hours of sleep a day will be enough. Keep an eye on the strength of your whole body, and you should be fine," the woman heaved herself to her feet.

"Anything else?" Ace wondered, voice filled with worry. "Anything at all? Any other ways to keep this from happening again?"

The doctor hummed. "Maven should do grip exercises every day," she pointed to me. "If she gets bored of the foam balls, get her to string rubber bands across her fingers and try to make shapes with them. The tension will exercise her fingers as well. Other than that, the protein in her diet seems well enough," her eyes glanced over the cold meat laying near our fire pit. "But she needs fruit too. Lots of fruit have important vitamins and nutrients that will keep her muscles strong and healthy. If you can, try to make her eat a few cups of fruit or a smoothie or two a day."

Fruit. I loved fruit, that was a diet change I could get on board with. We didn't eat it very often, it was faster and easier to catch meat than scavenge for berries, and the meat was more filling too. But I didn't mind the thought of eating more of it.

"Oi, I'm the oldest. Let me worry about myself," I teased weakly, a lopsided grin on my face. Ace just glared at me.

"Shut up, idiot! We're the same age, so I can take care of you too!" He growled at me, making me blink. He was legitimately scared for me.

I melted, sighing. I couldn't argue in the face of such blatant caring like that. Not from this brat that had been so insufferable and closed off at the beginning, for sure.

"Okay," I agreed softly as I continued squeezing the foam balls in my hands. "Okay."

—*—*—*—*—*

I loved fruit. I rediscovered this love, on a much higher scale than I had thought possible, the very next day when my brothers brought a huge bowl of fruit for me from Dadan's as I did my grip exercises. The old hag actually did care, huh.

Ace and Sabo could only stare as I devoured the whole bowl in much the same way Luffy devoured meat. In fact, he happened to be doing that very thing right next to me so I knew the comparison was accurate.

"...we're going to need to add fruit gathering to our day's chores, aren't we?" Sabo asked Ace from the corner of his mouth, as if I couldn't hear them.

"Looks like it," my twin replied with a sigh. "Such a pain." He didn't sound very upset.

Luffy and I looked up from our empty plates, blinked at our brothers, and said at the same time:

"I'm still hungry."

"WHOSE TWIN _ARE_ YOU?!" Ace seethed at me, Sabo rolling on the ground in laughter next to him. I blinked and grinned impishly.

"Hmm? Oh, my twin brother is a troll."

"WHY YOU STUPID HAG!"

Wrestling was a good way to exercise core and bicep muscles as well as strengthening family bonds. I kept repeating this to myself as Ace tried to murder me and made us roll around in the dirt as I tried to avoid his attempts at strangling.

I didn't regain enough strength in my grip to hold Stormfall again until a week passed. My schedule changed slightly. In the morning I would practice with Stormfall and then do my hundred spars with the boys. Then I would do cardio as I jogged through the forest to find fruit for lunch, where the boys would meet me back at the treehouse with meat. While the meat cooked, I'd do my grip training with one hand and eat fruit with the other, switching every few minutes. Unlike Luffy, I had the restraint to pace myself so that I didn't eat all my fruit before the meat was even ready.

After lunch, I'd go off and do exercises on my own for an hour or two before coming back to the boys. That was how I was able to listen in on them. I had decided to cut off my practice off early after finding (and taking all the fruit off of) an apple tree, my arms piled high with ripe yellow apples as I waddled back to the treehouse.

"Ace, Sabo," Luffy's small voice called out. "I want to be stronger."

"Huh?" Our brothers chorused. I stopped, straining my ears to hear them.

"Well… Maven almost wasn't able to use her hands anymore. And she says it all the time, she's dying. I can't protect her. I can't cure her," I bit my lip as I heard him sniffle. "And when Sabo got taken, I couldn't rescue him. If Maven hadn't thought Bluejam was suspicious, I wouldn't have been able to stop the fire or save anyone there either. A-and last week, when Ace and I went to get Maven the stuff she needs for her hands… I couldn't help Ace. I just got in the way, and we weren't able to help Maven as fast as we should have. What if her muscles stopped working while we were gone because I wasn't strong enough to beat all those guys up?"

Silence.

"So, I need to get stronger… and stronger and stronger and stronger, so I can save everyone close to me. So that nobody can keep me from saving or helping the people close to me. And… and Maven, Maven might not live as long as us but… but she's trying so hard! She trains all the time and she still looks out for us! She still protects us even when she's working so hard to keep living!" The words were starting to come out as blubbers, so I knew he was crying. "So… so you guys can't die either. If Maven won't let herself die… you guys can't die either..."

"Luffy," Sabo whispered.

"Idiot," Ace muttered. A _whack_ sounded that I knew meant he had punched our youngest brother, probably over the head. "We can't die and leave her to take care of your troublesome ass all by herself, it'll just drive her to death even faster," Ace snarked. I couldn't decide if I wanted to sob or snort. "Besides, you're the weakest one here so you should worry about yourself first!" I could hear Ace take a deep breath.

"But listen closely! I won't die!" Ace yelled, making me close my eyes tightly. There it was, one of my reasons for living. "I promise I won't die! We need to look after one another, so I won't leave you idiots without me to bail you out, got it?" I wouldn't let him break his promise. Never. Not until he was old and grey.

"I promise too!" Sabo yelled suddenly. "Maven's doing her best to live without regrets, so we have to do the same! No matter what, we have to follow our dreams and make sure we don't regret anything we do!" Sabo made a sound suspiciously close to a sob. "S-so! We all have to sail out and follow our dreams, got it?!"

I walked away as they talked about what age we would all sail off at, leaving it to Sabo to tell them about his offer from Dragon. I didn't cry. Not at all. I didn't leave a trail of tears behind me as I walked back out to resume training.

Definitely not.

—*—*—*—*—*

It was agreed. Sabo would join the Revolutionaries when he was thirteen, and the rest of us would set sail at seventeen. It worked out because Gramps said he wasn't going to enlist us in the Marines until we were eighteen, so we had plenty of incentive to get out _beforehand._

"Thank you for always helping Maven," Sabo, Ace, and Luffy chorused as they bowed to my doctor. She blinked.

"Huh. I've been coming here for three years now, and you guys are thanking me?" She propped her hands on her hips as she smirked. "I remember back when I first started coming, you guys all glared at me from behind Maven and treated my visits like I was personally killing her or something."

"Wait, _what?"_ I turned and raised my eyebrows at them. I was still in a growth spurt, but so were Ace and Sabo. They were quickly catching up to my height, and I was really hoping I'd be a really tall girl and not too much shorter than them.

This sudden apology was probably because Ace, Sabo, and I were all thirteen already. Which meant Sabo was just waiting for Dragon or his people to come and pick him up. I sighed, running my hands through my hair, which was pulled back in a ponytail. It was long enough to reach the bottom of my shoulder blades, and I didn't feel like getting it cut, maybe I would if I had to pretend to be Ace. For the moment, however, my long hair was one of the few ways to easily tell the two of us apart. Even our muscles were starting to look similar. It was creepy sometimes, honestly.

The boys kicked the ground, Luffy even whistled, trying to look innocent. I snorted, shaking my head as the doctor and I looked on in amusement at my brother's antics. She finished up the last of the tests, looking over them with an expert eye that was used to looking over my peculiar results and knew exactly what to search for.

"Looks like your toe and finger muscles are keeping up nicely. You have won yourself yet another two years, Maven," she said with a small smile as she began packing up her things. It wasn't until she was out of sight that we realized we weren't alone.

"I hope that doesn't mean we have to wait again," a familiar deep voice drawled from behind us. I spun around, looking up at the imposing figure of Monkey D. Dragon. I crossed my arms and tapped my foot, trying to look stern despite how hard I was trying not to laugh.

"You make it sound like you _want_ me to die," I shook my head in mock disappointment before turning around and introducing him to the two of us who hadn't met him yet. "Luffy, Ace, this is Dragon-San. He helped us out during the fire, and offered Sabo to join his cau—"

"Revolutionary Army," he interrupted. "It's officially formed now, and gaining attention as the days go on. Unfortunately, that means I can't stay here long. Are you coming or not?" He directed his question to Sabo, who nodded frantically.

"Yes! Yes, I'm coming!" He told Dragon enthusiastically. "Just let me get my stuff and say goodbye!" Dragon nodded.

"I'll be waiting at the docks. We leave in an hour, whether you are there or not, so don't take too long," without another word, the man disappeared in the direction of Goa and the docks.

We all walked to the treehouse with Sabo, watching him gather a bag with clothes and the journals we gave him as gifts for his birthdays, he had started filling them already. One was a diary, the other was reserved for things he'd discover when he set sail. It looked like that one would start being filled already, too.

"Work hard," I told him, looking away to try and keep my tears at bay. "Don't slack. Eat balanced meals. Don't let Dragon intimidate you. No regrets."

"No regrets," Sabo repeated with a smile. I bet he thought I didn't hear that little discussion of theirs two years earlier. Haha. Well wasn't he wrong?

"Write to us," Ace added. "It'll be weird without you, so write to us every now and then so we know you're alive."

"I'll miss you!" As usual, Luffy was the only one who didn't even try to hide his emotions. He just leapt at Sabo, wrapping his rubbery arms around his several times in what I knew from experience was a suffocating hug.

But Ace and I took no mercy on our blonde brother (I didn't, anyway) because a moment later I tackled them in a hug and pulled Ace into it too against his will.

"Go change the world!"

"Don't let Luffy get stronger than you while you're off relaxing with the revolutionaries."

"I'll be strong enough to beat your ass when I see you again!"

Ace, Sabo, and I all laughed at Luffy's statement. I knew it was more likely than they thought, but the image still seemed so far fetched. He couldn't even land a proper Gum Gum Pistol yet!

We all walked him down to the docks, taking our time to talk with him and soak in those last few moment before he went off on his adventure. We stood there, watching the boat disappear over the horizon. The only thing that got us to return to our treehouse was me and Luffy's stomach signaling a need for fruit and meat, respectively. Ace knocked us both over the head, but led us up to hunt down dinner anyway.

And if we occasionally turned our head to address a brother that wasn't there? None of us brought attention to it.

—*—*—*—*—*

"Haki?" I asked, tilting my head. Ace and I were fourteen, Luffy was eleven. We still got our asses beat by the Geezer when he came by, but I at least lasted a full minute longer with the help of Stormfall. I had already had to extend the pole twice to make up for the height I gained.

The Geezer was sat in front of all three of us, and nodded. "Normally I wouldn't even bring it up until you all were in the marines. Probably not until you were at least Captains," he started. "But Haki is something that could help slow down your Ursurper's. At least, one of the types can," he explained. He went on to tell us about the three main types, and we all listened raptly.

"Now, I'm only gonna teach Maven this time, since it's more important for her to—"

"Conqueror's," Ace interrupted, making us all look at him. But Ace was looking at Luffy. "That sounds like what I did, right? Back when Maven's hands got weak and we went into town to get stuff for her and got ambushed, I got mad and then all the guys passed out."

Garp looked at Ace sharply, stroking his beard. "So you have Conqueror's, huh? I'm not surprised. Well then, since Maven will yell at me if I don't make this fair…" he got _that_ right. As hardass as he could be sometimes, he hated being yelled at by me, especially when I was right. "I'll train you in conqueror's after I train Maven in Armament a bit. Okay Maven! Training, START!"

"Wait, geezer, what—"

"FIST OF LOVE!"

"ACE, LUFFY! I'M GONNA DIE! THE GEEZER IS GONNA KILL ME!" I stretched my arms out to try and reach them, but Gramps threw my poor hurt self over his shoulder and took me deeper into the forest as he laughed. "SAVE ME!"

"Sorry, Maven!" Luffy called back. "We can't help!"

"We'll make sure to put fresh fruit on your tombstone every week!"

"YOU FILTHY TRAITORS!"

I endured far too many surprise Fist of Loves that day. I honestly thought I had been a goner, the geezer was horrible at holding back. The upside? The pure, unrestrained fear for my life allowed me to unlock a tiny bit of Armament. Just enough to shield my head from the incoming blow, though the force still knocked me back a few feet. I returned to the tree house covered in bruises and probably a concussion.

—*—*—*—*—*

I took a deep breath in, focusing on the sounds around me.

I could hear soft footsteps on the dirt, I could hear the dust that was kicked up with each one. A soft _pat_ followed by a softer _shh._ The air was hot, my skin tingled with still forming bruises. I tilted my head. There, to my right. I heard the swoosh of the—

 _Wack!_ The branch hit the right side of my head, making me choke back a hiss of pain. It hadn't been that hard of a hit, but it had landed on a bruise.

"Don't hit the same spot every time!" I yelled, uncertain of which brother it had been that time.

"But if it hurts more, you'll want to block it even more. That will help your Armament, right?" Oh of course it was my twin. I should have guessed, the little brat. Gramps has given them instructions on how to train my Haki, since he couldn't stay back to do it himself. And honestly? We all celebrated that fact. I could not take another single Fist of Love. If I never heard that move's name again, it would still be too soon. Ace was also thankful, considering that the Geezer had decided to train my twin by dangling him with a rope over tigers, crocodiles, and bears. Then he had pushed Ace into a pit filled with cobras, spent an hour trying to get Ace to meditate with a bee hive sitting on his head that way a bee would come out as sting him in he moved or fidgeted. And the stupid geezer even roped _us_ into it by threatening me and Luffy with Fist of Loves to see if it would trigger Ace's Haki.

It was torture for all of us. At least it was pretty fair, as far as pain distribution was concerned.

But now my brothers were all too eager to blindfold me and wack me with sticks or toss stones at me to see if I could improve my Haki.

"Ah! Ace, run, a bear!"

"What?!"

The footsteps receded, making my twitch. They had tied my arms behind my back since my reflex was to bat their makeshift weapons away when they tried to hit me, meaning I was ditched… helpless… because they were scared of a bear. And if they were scared of a bear, it had to be huge.

"Those… stinking… _traitors!"_ I screamed, feeling pressure on my head. "What the fuck now?!" The pressure moved to my torso, and I was picked up. "Oh what the hell?! Of course this happens when I'm blindfolded!" I could feel myself being moved, occasionally getting my face whipped by branches as the pressure stayed constant around my waist.

"Oi! Get back here, dinner!" Luffy voice rang, and I could hear the sound of metal knocking against wood, which meant that they hadn't been scared. They had just went back to get their pipes so they could kill the bear for supper.

"Wait, forget the bear! What is holding me?!"

"Uh, Maven?" That was Ace's voice.

"WHAT?!"

"... no, never mind. Just give us a minute."

The sounds of metal rang, shaking whatever had been holding me. I swayed, feeling gravity take over as I fell to the side with whatever had grabbed me. I quickly twisted so that I would land on my side, letting out an "oomph" at the impact.

I took a few precious moments to feel relief at my freedom. Then the relief burned away. "UNITE ME AND GET THIS BLINDFOLD OFF!"

There were no arguments, which was odd. As color came back to me after the bandanna was removed from my face, I knew why.

I was staring into the maw of a giant bear. Straight at teeth the length of my foot.

"Uh, What—"

"That was so cool!" Luffy suddenly entered my vision, bouncing in front of me as I stammered in confusion. "The bear had you in its mouth! And you weren't hurt at all!" Luffy was ecstatic, eyes wide in wonder as I blinked. I lifted up my shirt, and saw my entire torso was black. Not tanned, not dark, metallic _black._ Not two seconds after this discovery, it faded away. I could actually _feel_ it fade away.

A smile slowly stretched itself across my lips as I looked up at my brothers.

"Alright. Now we're getting somewhere!"

—*—*—*—*—*

_Shiiing. Shiing. Shiing._

Stormfall's blade was covered with a hard cover, a makeshift sheath to protect the blade but still allow me to use it in a spar. Which is what I was doing against Ace, who was armed with his pipe. I whipped my axe down towards my brother, who leveled his pipe to make my weapon glance off of it, allowing him to dodge to my side and aim a punch to my left side. I allowed it, shoving the end of Stormfall's pole straight into his face right as he landed his strike on me.

We skidded apart, dust flying into the air around us, obscuring the cheering Luffy from our sight for a moment.

"Woo! GO MAVEN!" Luffy cheered, making our brother's head twitch.

"Why you—!" I didn't let him finish his curse, charging at him and making him refocus on me. Stormfall was about as light as a normal bo staff for me now, with the way I had trained my arm and core muscles over the years. And Ace was a brawler at heart, not someone who planned to use a pipe as his weapon for his whole life like Sabo probably would. It only took a flick of my wrist to spin we weapon around, the covered blade flying towards Ace's head—

"GUM GUM PISTOL!"

"What the—LUFFY!" I had to coat Stormfall in Haki completely to block it from Luffy's sudden attack, which knocked me back. He had started training with Haki too, once he turned thirteen. Which meant that even his normal hits had gained some real strength behind them, and probably would have actually damaged Stormfall if I hadn't protected it in time.

Me and Ace's spar thoroughly ruined, we turned to our brother with scowls on our faces.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" We shouted at him. I raised my arms up in the air in exasperation.

"That was our last spar before we were gonna take off. Who knows the next chance we'll get?!" I asked, towering over his short form. At seventeen I knew I was probably only going to grow another inch or two before I stopped entirely, but I was pretty pleased. I was already five foot ten, and taller than Luffy would ever be. Ace was about half an inch taller, but he was going to be growing a bit longer than I was so I already suspected I'd be the shortest besides Luffy. Not by much, but enough to be made fun of… then again, it didn't take much to earn being made fun of in our odd family.

Luffy looked up at us, gaze serious. "I want to have a spar against you both before you leave, too. I'll beat you this time!"

"YOU WISH!" We bellowed back. Ever since Ace had found out that we were twins, we had steadily started acting more and more like it without even meaning to. We occasionally finished each other's sentences, communicated without talking— if we weren't related, people might have thought we were married. We shared a glance, then sighed.

"Alright Luffy. I'll stand back for now,"

"And I'll fight you first," Ace finished for me, putting his pipe to the side and getting into position. Then the idiot fell asleep.

I looked down at him, sighing. His narcolepsy was a problem, luckily one I did not share. I often joked with him that our twin DNA must have decided to make his body compensate for the rest I missed out on, having to train all the time. It had led to more than a few times that he had fallen face first into his food or into the bathtub, where he had to be saved by Luffy. Rather ironic, considering Ace hadn't been a devil fruit user yet.

Another change? After we turned fifteen, the idiot stopped wearing shirts as often. I blamed his hormones, he must have started wanting to show off his muscles. And while my waist had slimmed a bit, my body still seemed to copy his. One effect of having Ursurper's was quickly known after I hit puberty; namely, the fact that it ate at all muscle, so I was bound to have small breasts for eternity. I could live with that though, too many women in that world had overly large chests, the earth could stand to have one less. Plus, having an almost-flat chest made it easier to fight.

Even now, Ace wore a very thin yellow button-up top, but with all the buttons undone. I wore a lavender crop-top with thick straps, showing off my abs… okay, so I might have been able to understand why he was proud of his muscles. Still. It was my job to make fun of him, hypocritical or not. I also wore plain black exercise shorts that came mid-thigh, and a pair of good quality royal-purple boots.

And Luffy had given Ace his signature orange cowboy-style hat with the smiley faces on it for his birthday a couple years earlier. The soft hearted idiot never took it off. Which, of course, prompted my jealousy and jokes of me being the only one without a signature hat.

Luffy got me a royal purple fedora with a lavender ribbon the very next year. I never took it off.

When Ace woke up, he and Luffy sparred for real. I watched with a soft smile as punches and kicks were exchanged, and saw very real progress in Luffy. He could last a couple minutes against Ace where he previously couldn't land even a single hit. The match still went to Ace without a problem, though.

I stood up when my twin came over after his win, and we high-fived to imitate him tagging me in for my turn against our youngest brother. Luffy had insisted that I only fight him with Stormfall, and not hand-to-hand, for at least the past year (hence the need to get a cover for the blade).

I got into a wide stance, right leg behind my left with Stormfall held easily with the pole diagonal across my body. I smirked.

"Ready when you are, little bro," I teased. It had the desired effect, the shorter boy hopping up and jumping straight into send a punch at my face. I easily dodged around it. Luffy decided to, for the first time, take advantage of our differences in fighting style. He came up close, trying to attack close enough that I wouldn't have room to move my axe in to counter. I snorted as I easily dodged or bared his punches and kicks, lifting my knee and shoving him away before I brought my Stormfall down swiftly over my head.

"I win." He hadn't been able to dodge, and I stopped my blade right as the cover touched his head. I stuck my tongue out at him. "You got Ace to give you tips, didn't you? You're getting better," I admitted, slinging my axe over my shoulder into its holster on my back. "Still gonna be a few years before you have any real chance against either of us, but you're doing better."

A warm arm was slung over my shoulder, and I turned my head to grin at my twin. "Alright. Me 'n Maven loaded up our share of the treasure and the food and water we'll need onto the boat already," Ace drawled, But I could tell he was just as nervous as I was. I nodded, looking down at our little Straw hat.

"And remember," I pointed at him. "Just because I promised to be your first mate doesn't mean I'm gonna just sail with Ace and twiddle my thumbs. I'll be getting stronger too, and I probably won't stay with Ace for the whole three years either. So you better work your ass of, got it?" Luffy nodded. "Good. We'll be having our adventures, so you better be ready for _yours_ when we meet again. When you've got a couple crew members, go to the Baratie. It's a floating restaurant near the Grand Line. I'll be there for a couple weeks after your birthday, probably, waiting for you. Don't rush, but I'll be there. Got it?"

"Yeah. I'll really miss you guys!" He tackled us in a hug, making the both of us laugh. It took a few minutes to shove him off, but once we did we all walked down to Foosha Village to head off.

Ace and I climbed into our little sailboat, and though neither of us would ever admit it, we were both fighting back tears as we watched Luffy fade into the horizon.

Once we couldn't see _or_ hear him anymore, I turned to my freckled brother with a sigh and a smile.

"Now let's go tell the world who we are."

—*—*—*—*—*

**HARD SO HARD TO WRITE THIS. I wanted to do more about their childhood, but I honestly just want to get to the next arc. I love these kids, but I like them as adults better. Plus, Dawn island is not very adventurous. Giant animals and rough terrain gets boring after a while, so it's time for real adventure.**

…

**Next chapter.**

**So until then, thanks for reading and I hope you liked it! See you next chapter~**


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay. There is going to be a comic coming out soon that is going to completely cover Ace's backstory, the founding of the Spade pirates, and whatnot. So, I'm going to try my hardest not to include too many specific details about the founding of his crew or anything. Hopefully these chapters will still be pretty good/accurate even after the volume comes out.**

— ***—*—*—*—***

"Aceeeee," I whined, head tilted over the side of our sailboat. It was barely moving. The wind was still, the air was hot despite it being January still. I was dipping my hands in the water for some sort of relief. "Aceeeeeeeee."

"Shut up," he said, clearly irritated but his voice betraying that he wasn't all that angry. I lifted my head to see that he was (surprise surprise) shirtless, and in a very similar position to me. "If we could move this boat without wind, we would."

"Oars," I pointed out, nodding to the tools laying abandoned on one side of our craft. Ace snorted.

"Yeah. If you wanna row, you row," he waved one hand in dismissal. "I don't feel like getting that sweaty right now. If we don't get wind in an hour or two, _then_ we'll start rowing."

"Gyaaaaaahhhhhhh," I released a heavy sigh of despair. Then I realized; crop top? Exercise shorts? Swimsuit. Might as well be a swimsuit. And in that heat, it would dry up pretty quickly. "Well… I do need my daily exercise," I hummed to myself, sitting up. This attracted Ace's attention, making him left his head. His hat, from where it was safely perched on his chest, slipped down to gently land on the wood of the boat next to him. I ignored my twin's raised eyebrow as I removed my boots and hat, setting them down on the floor of the boat.

"Maven, what in the world are you doing?" He asked, sounding exasperated already even though I hadn't even don't anything yet. I looked up at him, nose wrinkled.

"Don't act like I'm Luffy or anything!" I complained lightly. "It's a good plan."

"That makes me worry even more," he admitted as he sat the rest of the way up, focusing on me as I tied my loose hair into a bun. I only ever wore buns when— that's when I saw it sink into Ace's head. "Woah, Maven, you can't be serious!"

I just smiled, jumping over the side of our sailboat and sighing in the instant relief the water offered me. I only wore buns when swimming, so it wasn't hard to tell whenever I was going for a dip.

"Calm down, hothead," I called back easily, he had rushed over to the side to look over at me, as if I was bound to drown any second. "Swimming exercises all the muscles in the body, and my fingers will get an extra workout helping me push the boat. Ace's eyes were wide with disbelief and annoyance.

"What—? You know what, fine. Tire yourself out, not my problem," he groaned as he went back to sit down. I just chuckled and placed my hands on the back of the boat. My muscles flexed under my skin as I _pushed_ , and almost immediately the boat headed forward an inch, then a few more. It was extremely slow, but I was soon moving our little boat at a steady pace.

I could hear the sounds of munching that told of Ace starting to crack into our food supply. "How long do you plan on pushing us, anyway?" He asked casually. I hummed out loud instead of shrugging, since he wouldn't have been able to see it. I looked up to gauge the position of the sun so I could guess about what time it was. Almost noon.

"Ehh. Depends," I replied, my voice not even starting to be strained by the workout despite having been pushing for over ten minutes already. "Check our heading. I'll either stop at the next island, or when it's about dinner time. Speaking of which, could you load up one of my workout cups with orange juice? I'm getting thirsty."

I had a small collection of personal-sized barrels with one-way straws in them that served as my workout cups or mugs. I'd just swing it around my neck by the adjustable cord I had on it, and be able to drink without interrupting my exercise. Lately it would be filled with fruit juice far more often than water.

"Yeah sure, fruit maniac," I could tell Ace was speaking through a mouthful of food because of how his words were slightly garbled and muffled. I rolled my eyes, thinking about how much of a hypocrite he could be sometimes. A minute later, he walked over to the back of the boat were I was, leaning over the side with one arm lazily braced on the side of the boat and the other dangling my newly filled cup on one finger by the cord. We stared at each other a moment, his smirk only widening as the seconds passed until I could feel the vein throbbing in my forehead in my annoyance.

"WELL?! I'm pushing the boat, if you didn't notice! We would still be stuck back there if it wasn't for me, so just _put the damn thing around my head for me_!" I seethed at him in my frustration. I was really serious when it came to fruit. He just laughed at me. Jerk.

"Alright, since you asked so nicely~" he teased, slipping the cord over my neck. It was already adjusted so that I could easily reach the straw, but so that it wouldn't dip under the water either. After a long sip of the delicious juice, I relaxed and my anger ebbed away.

"Ahhh. Thanks, bro." Ace just laughed at me again, shaking his head and biting into a sandwich.

"Yeah yeah. You're welcome, fruit nut," he swallowed, chuckled again, and moved away to go relax.

"How's our heading?"

"Ah. Hold on— oh there we go. Turn to our right a bit," he waited while I made the adjustment. "There, perfect. We should probably reach the next island soon… I think," Sabo was the only one that was good with judging distances on maps. Luffy couldn't read a map at all, while Ace and I were only good at the bare basics. I just shrugged to myself and kept pushing, sipping at my orange juice every few minutes.

"Oi," I called over an hour and a half later, my breath finally starting to come a bit harder for me. I was answered by snores. "Why you—!" I sighed. My cup was empty. "Oiii. Aceeeeee. I want apple juice nowwwww."

"Mgflb," he mumbled something, and I heard the sound of him turning over before his snores sounded again. I growled.

"GET ME APPLE JUICE OR I'LL HIDE THE KNIFE GRAMPS GAVE YOU FOR YOUR ELEVENTH BIRTHDAY!"

"Fuck no!" I stumbled in the water a bit as the boat rocked with how Ace suddenly jumped up, knowing how real my threat was. He let out a loud sigh, walking over and yanking the cup off from around my neck, grumbling the whole time as he rinsed it out and filled it up again.

"Thank you," I said once I had had my first sip, relaxed again. "And Ace?" He grunted, looking over at me. "Sorry. I get moody when I don't get fruit juice during my workouts."

My twin just smiled, anger melting away. "Yeah I know, brat," he said back to me fondly. This time he sat down on a crate nearby so he could talk to me. "How are you holding up?"

"Eh? Ah. I think I have another two hours left in me before I should rest," I answered easily, sipping my apple juice.

"That's not what I meant," he scoffed.

"Oh," I was silent for a moment, actually raking my head and observing my emotional state. I didn't like giving inaccurate answers for questions like that. "I'm… fine, I think. A bit homesick already, but I'm far more happy to finally be off that island. I miss Luffy, and I miss Sabo like always. But having you here is helping me transition, I think," I told him slowly, focusing on slow, strong strokes from my legs in the water. "I can't stay with you the whole time, though. I need to have some of my own adventures before joining Luffy," I thought out loud. "So… I was thinking splitting off after we enter the grand line. What do you think?"

Ace let out a low hum in thought, leaning back on his hands as he looked up at the sky.

"Well. I think you're right," he agreed. "We'll never get stronger if we're always using each other as crutches. Some time apart will do us good," he turned his head to look at me. "But I won't let you leave unless you have at least one person you can depend on going with you. Got it?"

I chuckled. "Zeh heh. Yeah, Ace," I sighed back contentedly. "I got it. Mind polishing Stormfall sometime before dinner? Gotta keep her clean in the ocean air."

"Ah. I can do that."

We reached the next island not long after sunset. I was already dry, munching on some meat and pineapple rings as we calmly checked out the town. Neither of us were in much of a rush, content to just look around as we picked up whatever we needed to restock on.

I had a black backpack with purple spiral detailing along the edges slung carelessly over one shoulder. Inside was my share of the treasure we had gathered as kids, enough to buy a small ship. Ace had slightly more than me, seeing as he had been collecting it longer. I looked over at my brother, who looked at ease despite being away from Dawn for the first time.

"Go explore," I told him. "You need to get used to being on your own, might as well start a bit at a time. I'll meet you back at the ship either later or in the morning."

Ace nodded, ruffling my hair briefly. "Can do," he replied easily, handing me Stormfall. He had been carrying it for me since my back was occupied. I took it and leaned it over my shoulder, the two of us sharing a grin before walking in opposite directions.

My feet brought me to the market square, not the side that sold food (which is where I knew Ace had headed), but the side that sold clothing and toys. I was in need of new stress balls, the only ones were too worn down to be of any use anymore.

I was looking over a stall that happened to sell a few when a wind blew by, knocking my fedora off. I immediately curse, grabbing at it, but the wind carried it off a bit further.

Thoroughly annoyed, I ran off after it. It only went a bit farther before drifting down to where I was able to leap up and snatch it from the air, eagerly dusting it off and putting it back on my head. With a look around I sighed in despair; I had ended up in a residential neighborhood lined with small houses. I was lost.

"I'm sorry, Katie. You're sick!" A woman's voice spoke loudly, making me freeze. "You cannot go outside! You'll just make it worse. Stay in bed."

"I'm not getting better anyway!" A younger female screamed, her voice holding a frustration and urgency and _desperation_ in it that I could remember feeling from the early days of my diagnosis. "If I'm just gonna die in a couple years, then I want to have fun until then!" A door swung open violently, a young woman only slightly younger than me bounded out, crashing straight into me before I could move.

The two of us landed roughly in the packed dirt road. It was all I could do to push Stormfall away so it didn't slice her, the blade being uncovered so it would be faster for me to defend myself if need be.

"Oomph. I'm so sorry!" The girl scrambled back, dark shoulder-length blonde hair crumpled and tangled slightly from our little tumble. I smiled and waved a hand to tell her it wasn't a big deal as I stood up, dusting myself off and grabbing my axe.

"It's not a problem," I replied out loud, warily looking over as an older woman came flying out of the house after the girl, looking panicked. Must be her mother, I thought to myself. Looking into the teenager's blue eyes, I saw a longing there. Normally I wouldn't have intervened, but the emotions seemed so… _familiar._ So I looked up and forced a look of innocent curiosity on my face. "I'm sorry if I'm intruding, but I couldn't help but overhear the end of that. What's the problem?"

The women looked at each other, the older one clearly trying to send a silent message for her daughter to not say a word. Her daughter didn't listen.

"I'm terminally ill," she told me, making me stiffen. "I have an immune disorder, and the doctors said I'll be lucky to get three more years. I want to sail," she looked down, clenching her hands into fists. "I… I want to see as much of the world as I can, before I die. But my mother thinks I'll get better. She wants be to stay home and rest but.."

"But you don't want a pitiful death," I replied, looking up at the sky. I distantly registered the girl's small gasp.

"How..?"

"People who aren't in a similar situation can't understand," I softly mused, looking down to meet the girl's sapphire gaze. After a moment, I turned to look at her mother. "My name is Maven. I set sail to be a pirate," that was partially a lie. I planned on being Luffy's first mate, sure, but I hadn't decided what to do beforehand. Not until I met that girl, anyhow.

The mother stiffened. "P-pirate?!" She gasped in panic. I smiled, holding up a hand.

"A peace main, a pirate that doesn't pillage," I explained patiently. "You see, I'm also terminally ill," I had the full attention of both women now, as they stared at me in shock and hope, or confusion in the mother's case. I held Stormfall out in front of me, laying it horizontally over my palms. "I have Usurper's," my voice was soft, but firm. "I've been training since I was little to keep up the muscle mass necessary to stay alive. I don't care if people call me a lost cause, I don't care if people say women will never be as strong as men physically. Because I've proved them wrong. I've lived fourteen years longer than anyone thought possible already, I've built enough muscle to be stronger than most male brawlers already," I looked up and met the girl's gaze with my own. "I want to make a legacy for myself, before I die. No matter how hard I work, I know my life will be shorter than most, so I plan on making it a _great_ one," I spun Stormfall in one fluid circle, and leaned it over my shoulder. The girl was wide-eyed, the hope there making me feel tingly, good inside. The determination slowly building made me smile. "What's your dream? What do you want to do before you die?" I asked her gently.

She wrinkled her eyebrows, looking down at her feet for long, tense moment. When she looked up, her eyes burned with life and tears and ambition. "I WANT TO BE A PIRATE!" She cried. "I want to have adventures and be strong and let myself forget that I'm sick!" The tears made rivers down her pale cheeks. "I want to pretend I'm healthy. I want to be able to have _fun_ , to experience the world!" She told me, steel behind her words. I liked her already.

"Zeh heh heh," I smiled. "There's a sailboat docked on the port. If you want to come with me, meet me there tomorrow morning. Think about it, this isn't a game. But if you want to come with me, we will make our names in this world together."

I turned to leave, but paused when I heard her call out my name.

"Maven!" She called. "My… My name is Katylan. Nymph Katylan."

I smiled, even she couldn't see it. "Zeh heh heh. I hope to see you tomorrow then, Nymph Katylan."

—*—*—*—*—*

The boat yards were decent. Not the best, but good enough for my budget. I hummed until I came upon it.

It was a Junk, a Chinese Junk Style ship. It had a larger cabin area than usual for the style, and was painted in greys and blacks along the sides with the deck being polished, unpainted dark wood. It was perfect. I smiled widely.

"Junk… even the ship's style is perfect for carrying hopeless cases," I muttered in amusement before turning to the ship dealer who had been showing me around. I pointed to the ship. "This one."

The woman blinked, brushing bangs away from her face. "Oh, a wonderful choice! Perfect for long voyages, this junk style has been modified with large cabin areas and a fully functional state of the art kitchen. There is plenty of cargo area as well," she told me cheerfully in her Salesperson Voice. "The cost will be twenty million bellies."

I whistled, eyebrows high on my head. Not bad, not bad at all. But it would wipe me almost clear out of my cash.

… worth it.

I plopped my backpack down, opening it up to allow her a glance at the gold and piles of bills inside. "I think I have enough. Where can we settle the deal?"

After a couple hours walkthrough of the basics of steering and driving the ship, I was good enough to pull it up next to the sailboat Ace and I had used to get that far. He was already there, pigging out on meet as he waited for me on the deck of the small boat. My ship was ten times bigger than his little two-person craft, and his eyes almost fell out of his head when he saw me on it.

"W-what the?! Maven?!" He asked, caught off guard. I smiled down at him, but he must have seen something in my eyes because he instantly calmed down and got serious. "What?"

"Come on up here, Ace. Let me explain the day I'm had," I said gently as I tied the ship to the docks. My twin nodded, confused but willing to listen.

I led him up onto the wide, spacious deck and started by showing him around. I gave him the same tour the sales lady had given me. "The sails will take some getting used to, since they're so different from the ones we usually use. And I've decided— I've named it the Dying Dream," I told him, a wide smile on my face even as I could feel a knot form under my breast.

I didn't want to leave him yet. But my adventure had found me, and I couldn't just leave it behind. I couldn't ignore that this was the path I wanted to take.

"Maven," Ace's arm hand on my shoulder startled me out of my speech, making me look over into his solemn gray eyes. "You're leaving, aren't you?"

I swallowed, looking away before gesturing to some crates. I had used the last of my money to buy crates of supplies, the shipyard had given me a discount since I had already spent so much buying one of their ships. I had also gotten a figurehead made, it had taken several hours but the tip I had given them had helped the surprisingly fast carpenters get it ready just in time. It was Cerberus, the three dog heads sticking out from the middle and either side of the front of the Dying Dream.

Once we were sitting on the crates, I set Stormfall down against the side of the ship and leaned forward on my knees.

"I'll wait for you in Loguetown in six months," was the first thing I said. "I want to make sure you get into the Grand Line safely myself, and I want to spend more time with you before meeting up with Luffy. But..." I ran a hand through my hair. "I found it, Ace," I looked up to meet his patient gaze. "I found what I want to do. Until I meet up with Luffy, I want to be a Captain of my own crew. A crew of people like me," I clutched my crop top right over my heart, setting my lips with my tongue as I tried to figure out the best way to phrase what I had decided to do.

I told him about Katylan. I told him about how I saw a bit of myself in her, about how I realized that not everyone in a situation like mine would be able to sail on their own. That they wouldn't all be able to last beyond the doctor's diagnosis.

"... So I want to make a whole crew," I was saying softly. "A whole crew of terminally ill people like me and Katylan. They'll die, probably before I ever meet up with Luffy. That's a fact. But Luffy was the one that said it all that time ago, wasn't he?" I looked up, trying to ignore the tears I knew were gleaming in my eyes even with the searing determination I was filled with. This would be the hardest, but most fulfilling thing I would likely ever do. "The only thing worse than living alone is dying alone. So I won't let them," my fists trembled in my lap. "I'll find people with a terminal illness that lust for adventure like I do, like Katylan does. Who want to do something with what little life they have left, who want to see the world they wouldn't be able to if they're stuck in a bed. I'll find them, and I'll give them that adventure. I'll make a name for all of them, all of _us_."

Ace ruffled my hair and I looked up, startled, into his face. He was wearing the softest, proudest expression I had ever seen on him, his smile wide enough that it made a D shape.

"I'll load up your fruit from our sailboat for you," he ruffled my hair again, making me squeal in protest and try to bat him away. "I'm proud of you. You found your adventure, and we weren't planning to stick together anyway. Go get a crew together and we'll meet up at Loguetown," he stood up and swung his arms, stretching them out. "You're pretty awesome sometimes, you know that? Soft hearted as hell, but pretty damn awesome," he muttered, turning away so I wouldn't see his awkward blush (I totally did anyway). "But will you guys be strong at all? You, I know. But the rest of them?" He looked back, and I knew what he was thinking.

"I'm not gonna lead them to an even faster death. I'll make them strong, train them myself," I told him as I crossed my arms with a determined smile "We'll be able to compete with whatever crew you manage to scavenge up, at least," I teased him. He laughed, shaking his head with a smirk.

"Sure you will," he said in a tone that said that he didn't believe me for a second. "A bunch of people with one foot in the grave?"

"Yeah, one foot in the grave and the other kicking your ass," I said with a laugh. "Zeh hehhehheh! You shouldn't underestimate people who are already dying. We aren't as easily scared, and we are less likely to flee in fear of our lives. I doubt you'll ever meet more stubborn people— unless it's Luffy, he's the exception."

Ace grinned at me. "Well then. Come spend one last night in the sailboat, we won't get to spend much time together after this. Might as well milk what hours we have left."

I nodded. I could use a cuddle pile, even if it was only with him instead of all our brothers.

—*—*—*—*—*

"Woah!" An awed voice pulled me out of sleep, making me rub my eyes with my palms to get rid of the sleep in them. The sun was just starting to rise, so I had probably been about to wake up anyway. With a grunt I pushed myself up, bending back to crack my back.

True to my suspicions, I looked to the dock to find a familiar girl in a mint green dress tied at the waist with a stylish brown belt. The dress only came down to her knees, allowing for movement. My position in the short sailboat on the water allowed me to see that she wore shorts under the dress. Sensible girl, I was liking her even more.

Katelyn stood with her short hair held back from her face by a headband, her sapphire gaze directed up at the Dying Dream. She had a cloth tote bag over one shoulder, looking like it was about to break from how much stuff was stuffed in it. Her short gladiator sandals made soft pats against the wood of the dock as she tore her gaze from the Dying Dream and forced herself to move closer to the Sailboat. She froze for a moment when she saw I was up and awake, obviously not having noticed me get up.

I smiled widely at her. "It's a beauty, isn't it?" I asked, nodding to my ship. She slowly nodded in agreement.

"I wonder whose it is," she mused out loud, but was startled when I chuckled and pulled myself into the docks with her.

"Zeh heh. That's ours, I bought it yesterday after my talk with you," I told her proudly, hands on my hips. "Pretty awesome huh? I had just enough money for it and enough food and water to last us a couple weeks. If we're gonna be pirates, I knew we needed a good ship for the job," I walked over and patted the hull. "I'm lucky I found it. Know what type of ship this is?"

I looked back, seeing the wide eyes of Katylan staring back at me in wonder. After a moment she seemed to register my question and shook her head. I felt my smile widen.

"Junk. It's called a Junk ship," I tossed my head back, letting loose one of the freest laughs I had ever made. "Junk! Perfect for hopeless cases like us! Zeh heheheh! But this boat, and our hopeless bodies, we're going to flip this world upside down!" Katylan and I shared excited smiles.

"Don't kill yourself now," a familiar smug voice drawled behind us, making us turn around. Katylan looked nervous, but didn't back down. Good. I didn't need cowards. I patted her shoulder to reassure her.

"That's my twin brother, Portgas D. Ace," I told her before winking. "But if the both of us are gonna be pirates, it's best if the marines don't find out we're related. So I'll just go by Maven. 'Kay?" Katylan nodded in understanding. "We'll get along just fine, then. Oy, bratface!" I called over to Ace, enjoying his annoyed expression at the name I called him. "Looks like I'm the first one to get a first mate! We'll be painting our sails today, so I'll be the first one with her own Jolly Roger too! Don't fall too far behind, now, little bro!" He twitched, like he always did when I called him 'little bro.'

"Why you—!" He shouted angrily as I led Katylan up onto the Dying Dream and started giving her the tour. "YOU'RE ONLY TEN MINUTES OLDER, YOU STUPID HAG!"

"Zeheheheheheh," I laughed. This was it. My adventure would begin. I had a ship, a first mate, a dream. We were ready. "I'll lift the anchor," I told Katylan as I put Stormfall down on a crate. "You need help manning the helm?" My first mate shook her head, her dark blonde hair fanning out with the motion.

"No, my father taught me how to sail when I was little. Just give me a little summary and I should be fine," I nodded and gave her a brief rundown of how the boat worked, and she took to it like a fish to water. Within minutes, we were out of the port and I was still waving at the disappearing figure of my twin on his sailboat.

"Hey, Maven?" The blonde called out hesitantly, as if testing the waters to see if I'd be okay being called that. I smiled in response, which made her relax. "You said you spent all your money on the boat and food so.." she gestured to the pile of paint buckets and brushes to one side of the deck. "How did you get these?"

I turned around so I could lean back on the rail, sending her an easy grin. "I stole them."

"WHAT?! Why?!" She put her hands on her hips, eyebrows coming down into an angry furrow. I chuckled at her.

"I didn't hurt anyone, Katylan," I assured her. "But we're pirates. A little stealing is pretty normal. I ran out of money paying for the shop and food like a normal person, but I still needed paint for our sails. So I stole it."

Katylan sighed, plopping down to sit on a crate. After a moment, she grinned up at me. "As long as you didn't hurt anybody," she said calmly. Apparently that had been her only worry. "And you can call me Katie. So… we're on the water. What now?"

I hummed, looking up at the sky. "Our adventure won't really kick off until we're in the Grand Line, but we need a few more crew members before we'll be ready for that. I also want to get the flag and sails painted before nighttime. Most importantly though," I looked up to meet her eyes. "We're gonna get into battles. It's a fact. What are you good at? I can train you physically if you want."

Katie looked down, frowning in thought. "My body isn't very durable or strong because of my immune disorder," she said slowly. "But I'm fast. And I have a decent aim, I used to shoot arrows to catch birds for dinner before I got sick."

I nodded. "You can practice with our canons then. And we can get you a bow and arrows when we reach the next island. Maybe some daggers would be good for you too, I can help you learn how to use them," I patted the two plain knives on my hip. "They're my backup weapon, so I'm decent enough. They don't require much strength and are easily hidden and taken care of. What about navigation? Any good?" She blinked at me, suddenly looking worried.

"You… can't navigate?" She spoke slowly, as if afraid of the answer. I rubbed the back of my neck, letting out a nervous chuckle that didn't do anything to instill confidence in her.

"I know the bare basics, I'm not a _complete_ idiot," I assured her, but it didn't seem to comfort her very much. "I take it we'll need a real navigator then?" She nodded.

"I'm a pretty good helmsman," I nodded in agreement with her statement. She had learned how to use this ship, which was probably different from anything she had sailed before, in almost no time. And she did it way more smoothly than I had during my trial run. I clapped my hands, rubbing them together.

"Well then! After lunch, we'll talk about the things we need to know about each other. Signs of us getting worse, how to deal with symptoms, and what to expect us to do when we're dealing with our respective diseases, things like that," I told her, standing up and stretching my arms. "Right now, I want to paint our flag," I easily hopped onto the mast, climbing up with the ease of years of tree climbing, hopping down with the rectangle of fabric held easily in one hand. Katie was staring at me with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, but it slowly turned into a smile. Good, she was starting to understand what kind of person I was.

I grabbed a can of black and a can of white paint, along with several different sized brushes. "If you could, Katie? Would you keep an eye on our heading and see if you can start painting two of our sails black? Just worry about what you can easily reach, I'll get the rest later."

"Un!" She agreed, pulling out her compass while she walked over to the pile of paint cans.

"What do you think of the name Hopeless Pirates?" I asked when I was almost done with the flag, wiping sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand. "I want every member to be terminally ill like us, give them all a chance at adventure," I confided. "So if we're all hopeless cases in the eyes of doctors, then we should be take pride in that. Show the world that people that are dying can still shake this world up."

"Hehehe," I heard her giggle as she used a roller brush to paint black on the sails. "I like it. We can't get rid of our illness, so we'll take pride in it. Hopeless Pirates, huh?" I could hear the soft smile in her voice. "It will confuse everyone who isn't a part of the crew," she warned. Her voice held so much mischief though that I doubted she minded that fact.

"Of course it will," I agreed happily. "We can't let anyone outside of the crew know about our illnesses. Not unless we trust them, otherwise people will think lowly of us or go easy on us. That's not what we want, we deserve to be treated like any other pirates. It'll be hard, but oh so exciting, Zeh heh heh." I sat back on my knees, admiring the new Jolly Roger. "It's done!"

The tap of sandals on the wood of the deck sounded as Katie trotted over to look at it over my shoulder. She gasped in appreciation (I had taken major pains to learn how to draw during my free time, so I could do basic things pretty easily).

It was a black skull and crossbones, white in the spaces between the teeth and in the eye sockets and nose cavity, on a white clock with no hands. The rest of the flag behind the Jolly Roger was solid royal purple, my personal touch on the flag since I had adopted purple as my personal color. The eyes of the skull were tilted down in an "angry" position, but the mouth was grinning which gave the whole skull a defiant look.

"It's perfect!" Katie breathed behind me. "Subtle enough to not draw suspicion, but blatant enough to be obvious to the crew about what it means. A clock with no hands, meaning we're out of time or ignoring our lack of it, and the skull shows our defiance towards our fate!"

"Zeh heheh, I thought you'd like it," I said after her explanation. I lifted it up carefully, draping it over a crate to dry. "I'll finish painting the sails black. Good, you left the largest sail blank, could you start getting purple on that? I'll draw our Jolly Roger on it when the other sails are done."

"Un! Let me just adjust our course, we drifted slightly too far to the east," she went to the helm to fix our heading while I climbed up the mast of one of the smaller sails, paint bucket in one hand and large roller brush held in my mouth.

With a bit of balance and using the ropes around the sails to my advantage, I managed to get the two smaller sails done right in time for lunch. They were solid black with the word "HOPELESS," in three places evenly spaced down the sails in white paint. All that was left was the middle sail. I'd get that one done after lunch.

"Alright!" I shouted into the air, rolling my shoulders. Painting could be a work out, with how it made my arms burn! Or at least, in such large quantities it could be. Katie shook her head, her thin arms crossed over her chest, humor in her eyes.

"You're a force of nature, aren't you?" She mused out loud. "I don't know anyone who can spend over four straight hours painting sails without a break, that's some monstrous endurance!"

I laughed, walking onto the higher floor to enter the kitchen. "Come on, I can cook… well kinda," I laughed sheepishly. "I can roast meat and chop fruit well enough. If you want a fancier lunch, you'll have to make it yourself I'm afraid."

Katie let out a sigh. "You really do only know the bare basics of everything, huh?" She mused in despair. I rubbed the back of my neck.

"Well, not everything. I am an expert in fighting and strategy!" I told her proudly, but she just gave me an amused smile.

"You'll die of malnutrition before we ever reach a battle unless we get a chef. You didn't mention vegetables," I made a face, and she pointed to me as if I had just made her point. "See! I bet you wouldn't even eat any if it wasn't cooked for you!"

"You're not wrong…" I reluctantly admitted. "Fine. Navigator, then chef."

She nodded in satisfaction, pulling a handkerchief from where it was stuffed in her belt to wrap it around her head. "You go ahead and chop up some fruit. I need a lot of vitamins and minerals to keep me from getting sick. I'll need lots of vegetables too. Protein won't hurt anything though," she moved to the pantry and began looking through all the things in there. Ace had helped me organize it all the night before. "Oh, very well stocked! But… why is there more fruit than anything else?" she turned to me in confusion, gesturing to how three fourths of the large walk-in pantry was filled with fruit, and the other fourth was mostly meat, with some vegetables scattered around. I cleared my throat in mild embarrassment.

"Ah. Well you see. I love fruit. A lot. As in, I can eat several dozen pounds of it in one sitting without complaint and still ask for more," I admitted, and Katie could only blink at me for a moment. "Plus a healthy serving of meat," I added. She finally let out a small laugh.

"I guess people with monstrous endurance have to eat like monsters too," she conceded, still looking a bit worried about how much food I claimed to eat. "I'm worried about how my opinion of you might change once I see you fight. I'll take care of cooking, just chop up whatever you will eat as far as fruit goes, and set aside some for me if you'll be so kind."

"You don't have to be so polite," I told her as I started rounding up the fruit I wanted. "No need to call me captain or anything either, just in case you were still worried about that. I want us to be friends, not just you and me but the whole crew. We'll always be losing members," I gulped at that reminder, and Katie was similarly somber about it. "So we'll probably always be tight knit. Talk to me like you would any other friend, because that's what I'll be. Your friend that just so happens to double as this pirate crew's captain."

"... aye aye, Captain."

—*—*—*—*—*

**Phew. I'll cut it off there. I have lot of ideas for this, so there is the introduction for the Hopeless Pirates. Like it? More adventures to come! This arc might end up longer than the childhood arc… (Edit: It is. It is a LOT longer) heh. I love this idea.** **I actually drew the flag. I think it turned out pretty good! I'm proud of myself :P I'll set up a Tumblr for this story and put it up there.**

**As always, thank you guys so much for reading! And see you next chapter~**


	8. Chapter 8

 

**Also, for all of you guys! I decided to put my drawing of the Hopeless Pirates Jolly Roger up on Deviantart instead. Check my page, catthhay.deviantart.com, or just search "deviantart Catthhay" and my page should pop up. I suck at Tumblr, but I do have an account. If you want to share anything through there, my username is Catthhay (the same as on here). Whatever works best for you guys :) I'm just a little shocked that I've already received fan art, and this story has barely been going on for very long!**

**Immediate warning for this chapter: Cancer is mentioned and discussed. As always, death is mentioned. Mild violence.**

**Now on to the chapter!**

— ***—*—*—*—***

"Spread your legs a bit more— there. If your body is weak, you have to make doubly sure that your stance is strong. Stay on the balls of your feet though, you want to stay quick and avoid getting hit. Perfect," I coached Katie, who was holding my two daggers in her hands. They were sheathed for practice purposes, of course. "Now, you're gonna want to aim for soft spots over the body to take down your enemies faster if you can. With your condition, longer fights should be avoided."

"Un," she agreed, the ferocity in her eyes making pride well up in me. She was so dedicated to learning, to getting stronger so she could continue her adventure for as long as possible. It made me anxious to get a whole crew together.

"Okay," I held up the extra flag pole we had from the second flag that had been set up in the back of the boat that we didn't need. I used it as a bo staff, so I could counter her without using Stormfall, which was too big and risked seriously hurting her if she didn't dodge correctly. But the makeshift staff was much lighter and easier to stop at a moment's notice. "Now, we'll have a spar. You can use the knives and hand-to-hand if necessary, I can only use this pole. Winner is the first one to land three strikes on their opponent."

"Un," Katie sunk into her stance, holding the sheathed knives backhanded. I grinned.

"Take the sheaths off. I won't get hurt, and you need to get used to the real weight and handle of them."

Katie looked nervous for a moment before realizing I wouldn't be swayed, taking off the simple brown sheaths on each knife. As soon as I gave her a nod, she lunged and aimed at me face with a wide sweep of her right arm. I ducked below it and used my staff to bat away her left arm, which had snuck in to try to land a blow on my stomach.

"Good," I nodded in approval even as I easily pushed her away with my staff. "Attacking twice at once leaves a smaller window for your enemy to evade, nice thinking," she kept attacking even as I spoke, which made me grin. Yes, she'd make a fine fighter. I spun around, easily stepping around to her back, where I landed my first hit on her elbow as she turned to try to follow me. "First hit goes to me."

She was fast. Speed was one of my downfalls. I was fast enough for most fighters, but my specialty lay in strength and maneuverability. I had to exercise every bit of my flexibility in order to counter her speed, bending over and around her arms and legs as she kicked and sliced at me. Anyone who didn't know what was happening might have assumed that it was an actual battle to the death rather than a spar.

Katie was quick with dodging and countering, too. Her hands were barely a blur as she knocked my staff away with either the blade or handle of the daggers. Her knee or foot would occasionally swing towards my side, making my contort my body or perform last-second backbends to avoid them.

"Zeh. Looks like you underestimated yourself," I commented right as I landed a soft blow to her shoulder blade after having twisted around behind her again. "Second hit goes to me. You're a natural, a couple more weeks and I'm not sure who would win between the two of us."

"Heh, unless you had Stormfall," she had learned the name of my axe the day before, which had been our first day at sea. I had wanted to train her as soon as possible. Already the sun was almost setting, but I could tell that she was enjoying herself despite how exhausted the long training session must have made her.

But between the two of us, I had much more endurance. She tired out quickly, and I was able to land one last blow as I gently tapped her head with my staff, grinning. "Last hit goes to me. Not bad for your first spar," I dropped the pole, leaping forward to catch her as she swayed before she could hit the ground. Her legs were trembling. The adrenaline from he spar must have worn off and left her even weaker than I had thought. I let out a soft sigh, but the corners of my lips were still tilted up. "Come on, Warrior. Let's sit you down and I'll make us a simple dinner. I can make soup too. It'll be thick and closer to a stew, but it's good."

Katie chuckled even as I held most of her body weight and carried her over to the kitchen, setting her down on one of the chairs around the dinner table. "Soup sounds good," she admitted. "After a workout like that, I might not be able to keep down anything too heavy. Could I have some fruit though? Grapes, maybe?" She asked hesitantly, knowing how possessive I was of my favorite food group. I grinned at her, opening up the pantry.

"You've earned it," I admitted as I came back out and plopped a bunch of grapes in a bowl down in front of her. I might be selfish when it came to fruit, but I also cared about those close to me. If grapes would make her feel a little better, then I would give her some in a heartbeat.

We chatted idly as I manned the giant pot on the stove (I loved soup. I would probably eat most of the pot myself, after making sure Katie was full anyway).

"This ship is so big," I moaned sadly. "I love it, don't get me wrong. But I don't think I'll be able to sleep very well until there's more people."

Katie hummed, leaning forward over the table. "Used to being around other people?" She asked, making me nod with a sigh as I stirred the contents of the pot.

"Absolutely. I've never lived with less than two other people close by at all times," I admitted. "First it was because my grandfather raised me in Marine HQ—"

"WHAT?!" I laughed at Katie's shock, her eyes were nearly popping out. "You were raised _where?!"_

"Zeheheheh! Not my whole life," I assured her, though I noticed it didn't do anything to wipe away her shock. "Just after I was diagnosed when I was one and up until I was ten. Then I lived in a bandit's hideout, my gramps decided it would be a _wonderful_ idea to have them raise me and my brothers," oh, her shock was just getting worse. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"I… I think I'm starting to understand exactly what kind of monster I chose as my captain," she said, a mixture of awe, horror, respect, and confusion in her voice that made me bite my lip to hold back another laugh. I pointed at her before turning back to the soup.

"Hey, _you_ are this monster's first mate. And you held your own pretty well against me in that spar earlier. So what does that make _you?"_ I asked.

"A baby monster," she replied in the most deadpan voice I had ever heard. I cackled. "You gave birth to a baby monster. I'm gonna grow into a big bad monster. And I don't know how I feel about that yet," the excitement in her voice gave away her lie. She was very happy about knowing how strong she'd be able to get.

I was going to reply when the sound of cannon fire interrupted us. I quickly turned the burner off, though the lack of impact or the boat swaying gave away that the cannon hadn't been aimed at us.

"Let's check it out," I said as I ladled two bowls of soup (it had finished just in time!) and handed her one. She nodded at me even as she started gently sipping at it, and we left the kitchen to see what was going on. Once we reached the railing, we saw that we were closer to the island we had been approaching than we had thought. Which cemented, once again, our desperate need of a navigator.

The island was still only a slight hump of land in the distance, but it wouldn't take long to get there. We also saw several fishing boats out, hoping to catch more fish as the sun sank and bigger nocturnal ones started to swim closer to the surface. But the source of noise from earlier had come from two larger ships slightly to the west of us. One was flying a pirate flag that I felt like I should have recognized, and the other was clearly just a vacation ship for someone back on the island. It was a caravel, and was too pretty to be something meant for long voyages.

Of course, it was probably that very beauty of the ship that had attracted that other pirate crew's attention.

"Hey! Hey you!" Voices called out below us, making my first mate and I bend slightly over the Dying Dream's railing to look down at some fishermen who had pulled up close on their boat. They held guns, nervous, but the desperation I saw in their eyes had probably made them push past their wariness to call up to us. "We don't recognize your Jolly Roger! What crew are you?"

"We're a new crew, Peace Mains," I called back easily, relaxing against the railing so they knew that I wasn't hostile. The fact that I didn't have Stormfall on my back probably helped, though. "I'm the captain. Say, we're looking for a navigator, do you—"

"We don't have time for that! That's Iron Bludgeon Alvida's ship out there!" One of the men yelled up. "There's only one girl on that ship! All of us fishermen come out here to make sure she's alright since she won't allow anyone to sail with her! She won't last against a whole pirate crew!"

Katie frowned, blonde eyebrows bunching together in confusion. "If she sails out this far from the island on her own, she should be able to protect herself," she pointed out. The men shook their heads.

"She used to be a really strong fighter, but she's sick! Please, you have to save her!"

"Linral doesn't deserve to die at the hands of pirates!" Katie and I shared a glance. If we wasted time asking about her illness, we knew we might not make it on time. I sighed.

"Alright then. Katie, start turning us toward the ship. I'll get Stormfall," now that I knew what crew it was, I could feel fuzzy memories slowly surfacing. Not much, but enough to know that they weren't much of a threat. "I can probably handle them all myself. Alvida's bounty is only five million," I sighed as I picked up my axe and took the protective cover off of it. "Just when I thought I met get to check out our teamwork, too."

"Maven?" Katie asked with amusement in her voice as she spun the Dying Dream towards Alvida's ship.

"Yeahhhh?"

"You're pouting," she teased, a wide smile on her face. I groaned even as I adjusted my fedora and walked towards the landing platform so I could jump off and onto the vacation ship being raided as soon as we pulled close enough.

"But they interrupted dinner, and they aren't even good enemies!" I set my empty bowl of soup down on a crate and spun Stormfall around a bit to warm up my arms and shoulders. "Nobody interrupts dinner without getting a beat down unless they prove to actually be interesting!"

"Haha. Whatever you say, Captain," she teased again.

"I didn't even get to eat any fruit yet!"

"Ah, _that's_ what you're actually mad about," Katie mused out loud, amusement still thick in her voice. We pulled up next to the caravel, causing everyone involved in the fighting on deck to look over and gasp. The Dying Dream wasn't too much larger, but it was big enough to grab attention. Plus, a black and gray boat with a Cerberus figurehead and a Jolly Roger with a black skull made for a very intimidating appearance. I grinned widely, Stormfall easily leaned over one shoulder.

"Our boat intimidated them," I called to Katie happily. She snorted.

"You sure they aren't intimidated by the tall woman holding a giant battle axe as easily as if it were a purse?" She quipped. I shrugged. Either way, I was happy. "Is the fat and ugly one Alvida?"

There, sure enough, was a giant woman in the center of the ship holding a pretty big iron mace over the head of a girl who… who was facing the armed woman in a brawler's fighting stance. I whistled in appreciation. Anyone who wanted to brawl with a person holding a mace had guts. The giant woman was ugly, not because of her size so much as the rest of her appearance. Her hair was greasy and matted, her clothes were wrinkled and stained, and she had the worst makeup I had ever seen in any woman before in either of my lives. I sighed, deciding I had stalled long enough.

The shock of our arrival wore off, and Alvida began to swing her iron weapon down. I easily leapt the ten feet between our ship and her position, channeling Haki into one hand. All I had to do was raise my Haki-gloved hand and the mace was stopped in its tracks.

I raised an eyebrow. "That didn't even make me have to engage my muscles," I said, disappointment dripping from my lips. "And I thought you were a bore _before_ I even realized how weak you were."

"She stopped the captain's mace within one hand!"

"She's a monster!"

"How can anyone be that strong?!"

"Did you see how far she jumped?!"

I ignored the ramblings of the ugly woman's spineless crew, easily yanking the mace from Alvida's hand and letting my Haki fade away. I tossed it back behind me, still holding Stormfall over my shoulder with my right hand. I slipped it into the holster on my back. "You aren't worth using my axe on. Now then. My name is Maven, I'm the captain of my brand new pirate crew, the Hopeless Pirates," I said firmly, nodding to indicate the Dying Dream. "That's our ship. I suggest you guys hand over your treasure, or I won't even have to bring out the rest of my crew. I can beat all of you in ten seconds flat without ever drawing my axe."

There was silence for a long moment before Alvida started cackling, followed by her crew.

"The Hopeless Pirates?! What kind of sissy name is that?!" Alvida crowed. "Listen here girly. You might have caught my mace, but you won't stand a chance against me and my whole crew at once. GET HER!"

I turned around to look at the girl who had been facing Alvida. She had light gray, almost silver hair cut into a ragged pixie cut. It looked pretty good on her, making her look cute but badass at the same time. It paired with her bright emerald eyes, making her look almost otherworldly. She was short, about five foot five. With Katie being a solid five foot eight, this made the gray-haired girl the shortest new person I had met so far. But she was clearly well built, despite having the same generous chest and tiny waist as most females in that world.

"You okay?" I asked her, even as I heard the large group of people running to attack me. The girl blew a breath through her nose, as if snorting like a bull did when it was angry.

"You take the left, I'll take the right," the girl ordered instead of answering me. I raised an eyebrow.

"They're small fry," I started as I automatically swung my arms out to punch the first two people to reach me, the force of my hit knocking them out and sending them flying. "I can get it."

"I didn't ask you if you _could_ , I want to fight too. That stupid hag got me all riled up, so I need to release this energy somehow."

I smiled widely, probably looking a deranged. "Alright then. The right's all yours," I conceded, turning back around to take my half of the pirates.

It took only about one hit each for me to take my half down, which meant it was done in less than ten seconds— as promised. Once I forced Alvida's head into the deck hard enough to knock her out, I turned to look back at the gray headed girl.

She was almost done, too. She was definitely a brawler— only, instead of being a relatively controlled fighter like my siblings and I, this girl looked like a wild animal. She jumped on backs, flipped people over with her legs, used every part of her body to furiously attack anyone who came near her. Had she actually been an animal, they all would have been torn to ribbons.

I whistled in appreciation as I saw her land on the back of the last pirate standing, knocking him out with a swift punch to the head. She looked back at me, her eyes wild but calming down. I nodded at her.

"Very nice fighting," I told her. "Very nice," I turned and headed to the railing.

"Where are you going? You're ship's on the other side."

"I know," I grinned at her over my shoulder. "But my crew and I are broke, so I'll help myself to Ugly's treasure. Could you start throwing them back onto their boat? I'll help once I get their money all packed up."

—*—*—*—*—*

The giant bag of treasure was promptly put away in one of our storage rooms. All the pirates were thrown back on Alvida's ship. I watched from the Dying Dream as the gray-haired girl did something with the ship controls before getting back on her ship and leaning over the railing closest it us. Katie was by my side.

"What'd you do?" Katie asked, echoing exactly what I had been wondering. The brawler girl grinned at us wolfishly.

"I angled them towards the oncoming storm," she pointed to black clouds in the distance. "Judging by how fast it's moving, they'll reach it in half an hour. I doubt very many of them will wake up in time to change course, kahaha," she chuckled. "A little payback for interrupting me."

I rose my eyebrows in appreciation, jabbing my thumb in the direction of our kitchen. "You're welcome to join us for dinner if you want. The soup just finished about ten minutes ago, right before some fishermen asked us to save you. Judging by how you fought though, Katie was right. You didn't need our help," I grinned. "But I figure we should at least treat you to a meal. Without you, we'd still be broke!"

The girl raised one eyebrow, propping a hand on her hip as she looked the two of us over skeptically. "The rest of your crew isn't gonna jump me and try to raid my ship, are they?"

I chuckled, looking over at Katie. "I don't know. Were you planning on that, Katie?"

Katie laughed softly, playing along. "Not really. I'm still tired from our spar earlier."

I nodded, turning back to the brawler. "There you go."

She was staring at us, slack jawed and wide eyed. " _She's_ your crew? There are only two of you?!"

"Well, so far," I shrugged. "We only just started this crew yesterday, officially. You want soup or not?"

Her stomach grumble could be heard even from where we stood on the Dying Dream's landing platform. I could feel Katie sweatdrop next to me. The green-eyes girl huffed, a slight embarrassed blush on her cheeks as she determinedly looked away from us.

"Well, I _am_ shit at cooking. Sure, I wouldn't mind some soup," she moved to set anchor, and I did the same. Except, unlike the other girl I just lifted the anchor barehanded and tossed it into the water. The short haired girl twitched.

"WHAT THE HELL KIND OF MONSTER _ARE_ YOU?!" She shouted angrily, pointing at me. I threw my head back and laughed, waving off her question as I headed to the kitchen. I had a feeling she wouldn't be anywhere _near_ the last person to ask me that question.

After Katie lowered a ladder to allow the shorter girl to board, they both joined me in the kitchen. I had already refilled me and Katie's bowls and set a new one out for the girl.

After we all sat down, she looked up.

"My name's Linral," she finally introduced herself as she took a spoonful of soup. She sighed in content. "This is a lot better than anything I could make. Thank you," she bowed her head slightly. I blinked, unused to that formality.

"Zeh, don't worry about it," I awkwardly replied after a slightly nervous chuckle, going into the pantry to pull out two bowls of fruit. One of the bowls was much, much larger than the other. I set the smaller one in front of Katie, and sat down to eat the larger one myself.

My first mate, already used to my eating habits (kudos to her for adapting so quickly), just ignored me as she continued with her soup. Linral, on the other hand, didn't even try to hide her stare.

"Honestly," she spoke up as she set her soup down after watching me finish half of the pile of fruit. "That was stacked almost as tall as me! What kind of monster _are you?"_

"One with Usurper's," I replied offhandedly, though I was actually watching her out of the corner of my eye to see her reaction. The girl stiffened, eyes locked on me.

"Then maybe my question should be how you are even _alive,"_ she said slowly, eating another spoonful of soup as she kept her bright green gaze trained on me.

"Training," I flexed my arm in explanation, the muscles straining against my skin. "Lots of training. Every day, at least five hours a day, since I was diagnosed when I was one. I force my body to make muscle at least at the same rate as the disease eats at it, usually at a faster rate so I can still get stronger instead of simply not progressing," I explained easily. "What about you?" I looked up from my almost-empty bowl of fruit to lock eyes with Linral. "The fishermen said you were sick."

"Cancer," she told us softly. "Almost everywhere."

Katie and I shared a look. Katie took over for me, leaning forward.

"I have an immune disorder that is likely to kill me within the next three years," she confided, making Linral look over in shock at the blonde. "That's why we're called the Hopeless Pirates, and why our Jolly Roger is a black skull on a handless clock. Maven wants to make a whole crew of hopeless cases like us, terminally ill people with some fight left in us. She wants to give us the adventure of our dreams before we die."

I smiled gently at Linral. "You seemed pretty confident about that storm you sent Uglida's ship towards—"

"Her name was Alvida," Katie absentmindedly corrected me. I shrugged.

"Same thing. Anyway, would you happen to be a Navigator by any chance? We've been looking for one."

Linral crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair and away from her empty bowl.

"I'm pretty good at navigating," she admitted slowly. "And I think your idea is pretty cool. Definitely not normal for a bunch of pirates, but I can already tell that you're about as far from normal as physically possible," she eyed my bowl of fruit, which I had finished as she had been talking. "But I'm not leaving my island."

"... maybe you should wait to say something like that for when you're actually _on_ your island," Katie pointed out, making Linral's head twitch in annoyance.

" _Anyway_ ," Linral continued firmly. "I can't leave yet. The mayor says he knows a doctor," she said, leaning forward. "A doctor that has the Ope Ope no mi, and he's probably the only person in the world capable of curing me. If I find the treasure that belongs to the sunken ship somewhere around the island, he'll get the doctor to come here and cure me," Linral's story made me frown, eyebrows furrowed.

"Do you keep up with the up-and-rising pirates very much?" I asked carefully, knowing her mayor was lying to her. There was only one person with the Ope Ope devil fruit, and that man was still in North Blue from what the newspapers told me. Linral wrinkled her nose.

"I don't trust the newspapers, the World Government is full of crap," she answered. So nothing I said would matter, then. "I don't stand as much of a chance to be able to brawl against the best in the world if I'm busy paying attention to how far my disease has spread."

"Brawl against the best?" I asked, tilting my head. Linral nodded.

"The best brawlers in the world. I don't care about winning that much, but just being able to face them would be enough. I like fighting, even if it's just for the sake of fighting. It makes me feel alive like nothing else can," I was pretty sure her eyes glittered as she told us her dream. Katie snorted next to me.

"Adrenaline junkie," she teased, but her tone was warm. Linral ignored her. I rubbed the back of my neck.

"Sunken treasure, eh?" I glanced over at Katie, and she met my eyes with understanding. She read the newspaper more often than I did, so she must have been able to tell that Linral's mayor was lying to her, too. "That sounds like something a pirate would be interested in. We'll help out," I stood up, putting my bowls away. "I can swim for hours. Besides, it's not like we can't understand wanting to be cured."

The air went silent. Out of everyone on her island, I was pretty sure Linral realized that the two of us might be the only ones who _did_ understand what she was going through.

"Thank you," she said softly. I just waved her off, and she went back to her boat after we agreed to split up to search the area.

Katie looked at me, her mouth in a frown, once Linral's ship was barely a speck in the distance.

"And right after we stopped being broke, too," she said with a sigh.

—*—*—*—*—*

The next day, we met up with Linral at the island's port around noon like we had agreed. After anchoring our ship's, we hopped off with a soaking wet bag of treasure thrown over my shoulder. Linral's eyes went wide with joy and disbelief.

"You found it?! You really found it!" She jumped up and down, smile so wide it threatened to reach both of her ears. I smiled back despite my understanding of the situation, handing her the bag.

"It took a while, but I'm used to not getting much sleep. I found it right after sunrise," I told her easily as I put my hands in my pockets, Stormfall slung securely on my back.

Linral looked so happy that it nearly made her glow. "Come on, I want you guys to come with me to the mayor! Maybe that doctor can help you guys, too!" She turned and took the lead as she walked towards the mayor's house. I ran a hand through my hair, let loose since I wasn't exercising or swimming. It still felt brittle from the long swim I had taken that morning.

"I hate the false hope we're giving her," Katie whispered to me out of the corner of her mouth. I nodded solemnly.

"I know. But this is the fastest way to expose the lie," I whispered back. "The sooner she knows the truth, the sooner she can recover from it. And if she needs us, we're here."

Katie nodded, but her mood didn't lighten.

We reached a small mansion that overlooked the town, gaudy but nothing in comparison to the noble houses I had seen back in the Goa Kingdom growing up. I had occasionally robbed noble houses after Sabo left with the revolutionaries to help bulk up our Pirate Fund. Sabo's father's house had been a personal favorite target of mine. And it had been much more lavish and tasteful than the stark white building we approached, as much as it pained me to admit it.

Linral walked us straight up to it, throwing open the doors as the guards by them ignored her. They glanced at us, but seeing as Linral clearly knew us they ignored our presence. They must have been used to the tomboy coming and going.

"Mayor Puckers! Mayor Puckers!" She shouted into the echoing foyer of the mansion. "We found it! Some pirates helped me find the treasure you asked for!" She held up the bag proudly in one hand, the jingling of gold and jewels rang through the cold building.

"Did I just hear Linral say she found it?" A nasally voice asked from it of sight. The sound of a door opening and closing sounded, followed by overly-defined footsteps. The man must have been proud of his heels, or maybe he thought carefully defining each _clack_ of his feet made him sound intimidating. In reality, it made him seem fussy and stuck up. Which was just further cemented when he rounded the corner in a very pretentious suit (and one of my brothers wore a tailcoat as part of his normal outfit, so I knew what I was talking about) with his back perfectly straight and his nose high in the air.

It was an ugly nose, too. Long and heavily arched, like a stretched out triangle on his face. He had a thin mustache that stuck out on either side of his nose in two triangle shapes, and eyebrows that were practically ninety degree angles. He was shorter than even Linral, probably only a solid five feet tall. And his hair was styled into a squat cone sticking up over his head, with pointed sideburns coming down from it in front of his ears. His lips seemed to be permanently pursed, as if he tried too hard to seem fancy as a kid and his face just got stuck that way.

"Linral!" His nasally voice called out in mock joy. "Is that the treasure?! You found it!"

"Yeah, these two helped me!" She eagerly told him, walking forward to hand one of the goons to his side the large sack. One of them took it, setting it down and opening it for the mayor to see.

The greed in the little man's eyes was plain as day. I spread my legs to either side of my in a simple fighting stance, Katie doing the same at my side. Linral was oblivious to this, since she was facing with her back to us.

"Now you'll call that doctor right? I can be cured?" The hope in her voice hurt.

"Doctor? What doctor?" Puckers asked, confused for a moment before he remembered. "Oh! The doctor I knew with the Ope Ope no mi. He's a pirate in the North Blue, Trafalgar Law," he said with far too much satisfaction at the way Linral jerked in shock and dismay. "I don't know him personally, of course. But if you can find a way to cross the Red Line, I'm sure you'll run into him. Kyehyehyeh, of course, he _is_ called the Surgeon of Death, so he might not cure you even if you _do_ find him~"

"I'm sick of your greasy voice," I interrupted his gloating, walking forward swiftly and landing my knee in his face. With the height difference, it wasn't that hard.

His guards hadn't even been able to stop me in time, and the little man flew back until he landed with a hard _thwack_ into the marble staircase behind him. He groaned in pain, slowly lifting himself up before leveling a finger at me, Katie, and Linral.

"GET THEM! TUCKERS, RUCKERS, KILL ALL THREE OF THOSE BITCHES!"

The bigger of the two men was almost a foot taller than me and looked like he was made of brick. He was square and muscular, beady eyes glaring down at me fiercely.

"Aye, boss," both men drowned in an almost identical deep voice.

"Katie, you get Weedy over here," I pointed to the other guard, who was tall and thin. "I got this asshole."

Neither of us saw Puckers reaching for a den den mushi in his suit. Soon his voice echoed over speakers throughout the mansion. "WE HAVE INTRUDERS! LINRAL AND TWO PIRATES HAVE ATTACKED THE MANSION! ALL GUARDS ARE TO KILL THE THREATS IMMEDIATELY!" His squeaky voice bellowed.

"Shut up, your hurting my ears," I muttered angrily as I dodged a wide hit from the brick-shaped man, picking up a chunk of marble that broke of when he missed me and punched a crater in the wall instead. I chucked the chunk of rock at Puckers, hitting him solidly in the head and knocking him out. The best part was, my aim _sucked_ so the rock would have missed if he hadn't flinched too far to the side and actually _straight into_ the path of the projectile.

I focused back on my fight with square dude, pulling Stormfall from its holster. Footsteps thundered as dozens of guards entered the room. I smirked. "Linral!" My voice startled the girl out of her devastation. "Take your anger out on these assholes! They gave you false hope, so make them bleed for it!" I told her in a low, dangerous tone. The battle was getting to me, exciting me. Linral wasn't the only one who liked to fight just for the sake of fighting.

I jumped back as the large man tried to punch me again, heaving my axe towards his head. He dodged, but I hadn't been trying to kill him anyway. Right as he ducked away, I switched my grip and brought Stormfall down, the flat side of the blade smacking him soundly on one cheek.

The heavy man _flew_ , landing straight into the crater he had made in the wall a minute earlier, doubling its size. I spun my axe with a crazed grin on my face, but the man barely seemed phased as he pushed himself up and met me halfway.

He grabbed Stormfall's black pole, trying to wrench it from my grip. I _tsked_ at him, moving my right leg forward and using my weight and his hold on my weapon to launch him up and over my head. He landed back, first into the ground, head near my feet. I pulled my right hand away from Stormfall, coated it in Haki, and brought it down onto his face with little mercy.

I heard his nose crunch, and he passed out. I made sure not to do _too_ much damage, so I knew he would recover eventually.

Turning around I saw Katie slice one knife across the tall guy's torso and land her other in his shoulder. I grinned, seeing her improvement from when I had started training her. The blonde jumped back, kicked the man's feet from under him, and knocked him out with one strike from her knife hilt to his temple.

I spun my axe in an easy circle, hand-over-hand as I gazed at the crowd of guards that had loaded into the room. I smiled at them in what I hoped was a pleasant way, but I might have gotten bloom on my face and fist from the blocky guy's broken nose, so it might have looked deranged instead of friendly.

I gestured to the dozen men Linral had already taken out, and the other three she was already on top of like a rabid dog.

"I'm pretty sure you hate Mayor Fucker just as much as we do. Just turn around and leave, and you won't have to fight any of us."

They fled.

Linral finished with the three she was on, and got up with her chest heaving. I clapped a hand on her shoulder, startling her.

"We really could use a navigator," I hinted heavily, looking over the men we had just beat instead of at her. I ignored the existence of the tears staining her face and still flowing from her eyes. "And. Guy like Captain Law is bound to enter the Grand Line sooner or later, which is where we'll be headed after we get at least five members. I can't promise you life, but I can promise adventure. We'll leave this island tomorrow at noon," I lifted my hand from her shoulder and gestured to Katie with a jerk of my head. The blonde nodded, sheathing her knives and heading to the door. "We'd welcome you without a second thought."

With that seed planted, I took the bag of treasure and slung it over my shoulder.

"If it makes you feel better, this is the gold we got from Uglida's ship. I soaked the bag in water and swam to get seaweed and coral to make it look authentic, but it's not the sunken treasure he wanted. He's just a greedy idiot who wanted to use you to get richer."

—*—*—*—*—*

"Eight hundred ninety seven… eight hundred ninety eight… eight hundred ninety nine…"

"Better save the last hundred for after breakfast," Katie called with a yawn as she got up from her hammock. I didn't want to use a captain's quarters, so we shared the large room that served as the women's cabin. I was in front of my hammock, doing handstand push ups. I looked up at her, and did one last one.

"Nine hundred," I muttered before flipping to my feet and shaking out my arms and shoulders. "Breakfast time?" I asked, doing a few more arm stretches. Katie hummed in affirmation as she moved to her chest of clothing, changing into her day outfit. I was already in mine.

"Who gets up at five in the morning to do workouts?" She was mumbling to herself in good humor, if slightly annoyed. "Why, my captain does. My captain is a monster that does a thousand sit ups and handstand push ups every morning. And she calls it a warmup. Wanna join our monster crew?" I chuckled at her mumblings, already knowing she wasn't much of a morning person. "Why no, my captain isn't a man actually. She's a muscular woman who somehow manages not to look like an overly buff ape. I have no idea how she stays lanky and pretty, but it must be the monster genes," she was still going on.

"Zeh heh," I chuckled as I took my hair out of its ponytail and brushed it out with my fingers. It was slightly curly and prone to tangling, so I didn't bother with a brush. Using my fingers would get it just about as neat as it would ever be. If I tried too hard with a brush, it would just tangle again and ruin my hard work in less than ten minutes.

"I'm taking a bath," I told my first mate. "I'll meet you in the kitchen for dinner. And don't complain if you slept through the first two hours of my exercises. It's a perfectly reasonable seven-AM," I dodged the pillow she threw at me with a laugh and walked out with a change of clothes under my arm to the bathroom.

A very relaxing twenty minutes later I was clean, dressed, and toweling my hair dry as I walked into the kitchen. I sighed happily at the scent of breakfast.

"That smells so goood~" I nearly moaned.

"I know, right? Better than anything I could make," the new voice made me jump and spin towards the dining table, where a familiar gray-haired girl lounged with a lazy smile, her green eyes twinkling.

"Well! I owe Katie a hundred bellies," I sighed in despair as my first mate laughed form her spot in front of the stove. "She bet you would show up early, I bet you wouldn't show up until right at noon," I explained to the bemused Linral. "Also, I'm calling you Lin. I'm too goddamned lazy for full names. I'll call you Lin, and you call me Maven. No 'captain' or anything necessary. We're living together, we're probably dying together, so let's be the best goddamned friends together, too."

With that, I grumpily marched to the treasure storeroom to take a hundred bellies from my personal share of it and put it into Katie's.

I hated losing bets, but this one I was okay with.

—*—*—*—*—*

**See what I meant when I said this arc would be longer? I just made one** _**day** _ **of this arc into the same length of other chapters in the Childhood arc that covered several** _**years** _ **at once. God I love this story too much .**

**I hope you liked it! See you next chapter~**


	9. Chapter 9

A week passed. I was out on the deck, finishing up my one hour training session with Katie, which always ended in a spar.

She was getting faster and more confident. Her fight against Weedy back at Mayor Pucker's mansion had given her confidence that she could actually fight well and that she really shouldn't ever use me as a measuring stick when it came to her strength.

"Last hit goes to me," I said, actually panting a bit. Her speed had helped her land two hits on me, which were lightly bleeding. It had been a legitimate struggle to win against her with just my staff and no brawling, which meant that she was ready for Haki training. "You're doing a lot— Katie!" I dropped the pole, lunging forward to catch her as she fell, just as she had fell that first day. Footsteps thundered over to me.

"Maven, Katie? What's wrong?" Lin asked, green eyes sweeping over our blonde Nakama. I looked up at the gray headed girl, mouth in a tight line.

"I'm carrying her to the infirmary. You throw all of her things in the wash," unlike that first time, she had a fever this time and was passed out. Her immune disorder was kicking in. "I don't know what made her sick, but let's clean everything just in case. It could just be overworking, but…"

"But we're not doctors," Lin finished grimly for me. I nodded, lifting Katie up into a bridal hold as I looked at our navigator.

"How long until the next island?" We had been at sea for a solid week, so I hoped it wasn't too far. Katie was not allowed to die yet, not when we hadn't even scraped up a decent crew or made it to the Grand Line. But with her immune disorder, even a cold was dangerous. Lin pulled out her compass, giving it a quick check before nodding to herself.

"We're still perfectly on course. We should reach it before sunset."

I took a deep breath. Sunset was in almost four hours. Katie wouldn't die that quickly, I was certain of it. Even with her disorder, a cold would take much longer to kill her if it was going to. I nodded to Lin, who took off to do as I had asked her earlier as I kicked open a trap door and walked down the narrow staircase into the infirmary below deck. I set her carefully down on one of the four sterile cots, tucking her in and moving to the counter to grab a thermometer from a drawer.

The girls didn't know it, but I snuck into the infirmary every night at midnight to wash the sheets and make sure everything was clean. With my crew mates, it was an important chore. That's how I knew it was clean and ready for Katie to use at the drop of a hat.

"What's the temperature look like?" A voice asked softly from behind me, but I didn't look away from the rag I was wetting with cold water to glance at Lin.

"A hundred and one point six degrees," I told her grimly, hearing her suck a breath through her teeth at the number. It wasn't the worst, but it was pretty bad. "I'm not sure what started it, but the spar probably made it worse. She might not have thought to tell us because she's used to feeling a little off. And then the sweat she worked up from the training must have thrown her off and made her think it was just hotter outside than she thought," I ran a hand through my hair.

"Or she just didn't want to worry us," Lin threw in, crossing her arms as she looked down worriedly at the blonde as I placed the wet rag on her forehead. Katie and Lin got along, but they also made a game of annoying the crap out of each other. I knew that Lin cared a lot for the other girl, though, so she must have been worried out of her mind. So was I. "She's a stubborn little brat like that. She had so much responsibility as First Mate, she probably thinks she'd just hold us back if she told us every time she had a fever. She probably gets them all the time, knowing her she just works through them like the hardhead she is," Lin walked to sit in the chair by Katie's cot. "Even I know to sit back when I'm feeling faint or sick or in pain."

"Shit," I cursed softly as I realized that Lin was probably the one that was right, I tended to overthink things like this. I always wanted to assume the best instead of seeing my friends being self destructive even for good intentions— reminded me too much of myself, maybe. I sighed, rubbing my forehead. "And I probably don't set a good example," I admitted. "We need to get her to a doctor as soon as we reach the next island."

Lin nodded. "I can't cook for my life, you should make some soup for her for when she wakes up," she suggested calmly. "You look really out of your element," she managed a small smirk at me. It was true; I barely remembered to put a cold cloth on Katie's head, and I knew next to nothing about taking care of people. "Family never got sick? Neighbors?" Lin asked, moving to take over the care of our First Mate. I shook my head.

"My brothers never got sick. The marines never needed my help if anyone got sick at Headquarters, and the bandits took care of themselves," I had told Lin the basics of my childhood's odd settings, so she had already had time to get over the shock. She gave me an odd look.

"And you never got sick before, either?"

"Nope. At least, not besides the obvious," I confirmed with a shrug before heading above deck to the kitchen. It took some careful experimenting, but I was able to make a decent soup that was about twice as thin as the creamy one loaded with ingredients that I usually made. It wasn't restaurant quality by any means, but it tasted fine. I kept it fairly basic, a slightly creamy chicken noodle. It was my first attempt at such a thing, but I considered it a success and carried a small bowl of it down to the infirmary.

Katie was awake and sitting up when I got there, drinking from a cup of water that Lin was helping to keep steady for her. I smiled.

"It took awhile to make, but I got soup," I announced as I went over to the blonde's beside, putting the soup down carefully on the small table next to her head. "But first things first," I pulled up a chair and sat on it, leaning forward onto my knees as I pinned my first mate with a serious gaze. "New captain's orders. No hiding if you're feeling sick. That goes for the whole crew," I glanced at Lin out of the corner of my eye briefly before looking back at Katie. "I don't care if it is tiny. You feel slightly lightheaded, the room feels a little warmer than normal, you have a little stomach ache. I don't care, you tell somebody in the crew. Me, Lin, someone we pick up later, whoever," I clasped my hands together. "You can't overwork yourself."

"But you—"

"I'm a completely different case," I finished for her. "My disease doesn't make it easier for me to get sick. It eats at my muscle, which means I have to work harder than most normal people could ever dream of working in order to live just another day or two. If it looks like I'm overworking, it doesn't affect me in the same way as it would a normal girl. It takes me longer to get tired, I've worked on my endurance almost my whole life. You're even weaker than a normal person, so stop comparing yourself to me," I knew my words were harsh, but she needed them. "Every member of this crew will be unique in the steps needed to keep them healthy. What Lin needs to do to stay alive is different from what you need, and my needs will never match up to those of anyone else onboard unless we manage to find someone else with Usurper's, which isn't likely," I took the bowl of now-cooled-off soup and handed it to her. "Even I know when to rest. Am I understood?"

Katie took the bowl from me slowly, and I helped her trembling hands to hold it. She still looked pretty bad, but she was lucid enough to completely soak in what I said. She nodded, looking down guiltily. "Understood, Captain?"

I raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

Katie cracked a weak smile. "Understood, _Maven,_ " She corrected herself. I nodded, satisfied.

"Lin and I will have to duck out to check our heading and steer the—"

"PIRATES! BOARD THE SHIP!" The roar of what could only be marines tore through the air.

"On second thought, stay here. We're gonna have to fight," I hastily stood up, running up onto the deck with Lin at my heels. When we got up there, we were slightly surprised to see that the yelling hadn't been for us. There was another pirate ship ahead of us clashing with a marine ship.

But damn it all, they were _in our way._ We needed to pass them in order to get to the island, in order to get help for Katie. My eyebrows furrowed as I felt impatience take me over. I pulled Stormfall off my back.

"Take us in. Do you recognize the flag?" I asked Lin, who ran to the helm to steer us closer. She nodded. Ever since Mayor Fucker's asshole move, she'd changed her stance on newspapers and read them every now and then to stay up to date.

"The Black Cat pirates, led by Captain Kuro," She responded. I hummed, this must be the fight where Kuro faked his death. The details escaped me, but I still remembered the basics. I swung Stormfall.

"Captain Kuro uses blades of some sort," Why couldn't I remember what kind? It felt like something important. "And I've heard he's fast, too…" Horrible match up. Horrible, horrible match up for somebody like me. But damn it all, they were in my way!

"I probably wouldn't be able to get close," Lin admitted. I sighed; then we'd have to put the one with more endurance on the ship that had faster enemies. That meant me. Damn. "Orders, Maven?"

"Tear them apart," I answered immediately. "You take the marine ship, I'll get Kuro's crew."

"Aye aye."

As soon as we were close enough, we jumped off. Lin went onto one ship, me on the other. In a matter of seconds I heard her ripping through them, though I hoped not literally. I didn't want us to be known as a killing crew, but I doubted even a wild fighter like Lin would kill anyone without extremely good reason.

"A- A monster landed on our ship!" A marine screamed as he looked back to see his comrades being beaten several at a time. "Retreat! Fight the enemy on board!"

I let the marines flood past me until I was the only person on board that wasn't part of the Black Cat Pirates. I was spinning Stormfall hand-over-hand as I raked my gaze over them. A tall man with slicked back black hair and perfectly circular glasses walked out. He was dressed pretty formally for a pirate, flawless black slacks and button-up shirt under a black suit jacket and his captain's jacket. His hands had on gloves with each of the fingers tipped with a katana blade. Oh, that was why it was important. Reach, speed, quantity— he had it all. Stormfall had a slightly longer range, but I didn't know if it would be enough to make a difference.

"Who are you?" He asked in a prim, polite tone. But there was a dark undertone that spoke of someone who wouldn't blink twice at taking a life. "You're interrupting my plans."

"You're the one standing in _my_ way. I need to pass, and I can't risk my ship being hit or rocked by any stray cannonballs," I replied just as calmly as him. I was still spinning my axe. "So I decided to clear out all the obstacles, it's faster."

"You didn't answer my question."

I smirked at him, stopping my blade so he could see my face clearly. I held it in a diagonal grip across my body, and met his cold gaze unflinchingly. "My name is Maven. I am the captain of the Hopeless Pirates. And before you laugh, you're the ones with no hope right now. You're seriously pissing me off, and that's not the smartest thing in the world to do," I threatened darkly. Kuro scoffed, raising a hand.

"I believe you are underestimating me. Jango, kill her."

"Yes, Captain Kuro!" A weird man stepped forward, holding some type of circular blade on a string. Hypnotist, my memory served up for me. I sighed as he began to spin the blade, walking forward while only looking in his eyes.

"Parlor tricks," I mumbled. "Get out of my way!" He started to swing his second yo-yo like blade, but I smacked him with the flat side of Stormfall without letting him properly swing it. The blade lashed out, and I didn't care enough to dodge. It made a shallow slice across my cheek, barely deep enough to bleed. "Get out of the adult's fight before you get hurt," I lifted Stormfall, bringing the pole down on Jango's temple before he could move out of the way, soundly knocking him out.

The crew around me gasped.

"She knocked out Jango with two hits!"

"We're doomed!"

"She's a monster!"

"Sham. Buchi," Kuro ordered. A tall and lanky man stepped out with a guy who looked a bit like a cow. I sighed, rubbing my temple with one hand. These guys were seriously pissing me off. Luckily, we were interrupted.

"I finished with those marines, Boss," Lin said happily, her voice coming off deranged because of how the excitement that came with a fight still ruled over her. It hit her harder than most, seeing how much she enjoyed fighting.

"O-o-one girl took down the whole marine ship!" The stupid crowd of pirates gasped. I rolled my eyes.

"Linral," I turned my head to the shorter woman. "Take these two idiots, will you? And be careful, they have cat claws on."

"Aye aye," Lin answered with a chuckle of anticipation. Honestly, that girl might have been half demon with how she behaved sometimes. I continued forward, dodging the attacks the lanky-guy and the cow-guy tried to land on me. Before they could strike me from behind, Lin was on them. It sounded like a literal cat fight had started, hissing and tumbling and yelps of pain being shrieked into the air. I only looked at Kuro, who held one blade-clad hand to the side to stop his men from attacking.

"Idiots," he remarked to them blandly. "She's out of your league," with that, the tall man pushed his legs apart and sank into a battle stance, deadly katana claws bared in all directions.

I swung Stormfall in a figure-eight-like pattern, the blade swinging in front of my face and then behind my head without so much as a single inch of deviation between the swings. It never once cut me or my hair.

"Your time is up," I had a feeling I'd regret saying that. In fact, it only took a moment before I realized how lame and cliché it was. I kept that realization off of my face. It made most of the pirates around me tremble at least, so they must not have shared my opinion.

Kuro and I lunged at each other. Quickly, I coated my hands and neck with Haki. If I couldn't keep up with his speed, then I'd have to anticipate his movements. Sure enough, his claws aimed for my wrists and neck, trying to land a killing blow to my important arteries. I let them, his claws sliding harmlessly along my blackened skin. It would have been easier if I had unlocked my observation Haki, but I had focused so much on Armament that that other form of Haki had been left neglected.

The man was so fast I could barely see him. But I could faintly hear him, which allowed me to move just in time to block one strike with my Ace and another with a Haki-coated arm. The pirates around us all yelled in shock when their captain's blades hit me but didn't harm me.

"What?!" Kuro hissed in shock and confusion, not understanding why most of the blows he landed refused to actually cut me. Some did, he was too fast for me to dodge or block every blow. Already, I had a collection of small cuts in addition to the two that Katie had given me during our spar (amidst all the worry, I had forgotten to treat them). I smirked at him, swinging my axe toward him without pausing in my movement.

He hadn't been expecting me to be able to swing such a large weapon so easily, and he definitely hadn't been expecting me to swing it in a full circle. I let my hands slip down the handle as I spun, making the axe's reach extend as it sliced through the air, catching Kuro on the shoulder even as he tried to dodge.

Taking the moment of opening, I dashed in close and aimed a punch at his face, which he dodged as he tried to rake my back with his blades. I leapt straight up, arching my back over his weapons in a wide flip before landing nimbly on my feet safely on the other side of his claws. I swung Stormfall forward again, meeting his blades with a _clash_ and the sound of metal grating against metal.

"It's a trick used in the Grand Line, I was taught how to use it by a guy who lives there," I told him, my battle-crazed grin widening as his eyes narrowed in shock. I flexed my arms, swinging Stormfall as fast as I could to meet or block the sweeping blows Kuro aimed at me.

"Grand Line? A bountiless amateur like you knows a trick from the Grand Line?" His blade nicked my side, right above my hip. I hissed but didn't flinch, landing a kick to his knee as I brought my axe's pole towards his chin. He dodged, and I reversed my grip to bring the pole backwards, knocking it soundly against his temple. The skinny man slid several feet to the side.

"Zeh heh heh," I chuckled as I leapt towards him. "Everyone starts somewhere," I pointed out. I saw him start to get into a stance that had his crew panicking. I knew I had to end it fast, any increase in speed would put me at too much of a disadvantage. "Taking stances like that leaves you open!"

Right as he was about to move, Stormfall's blade slid across his chest. His scream of agony rose into the air, and I ended it with a swift knock of the flat side of Stormfall's blade on the back of his head. He fell like an anchor.

Panting for breath, I stood up and took stock of my injuries. Not nearly as much as I would have had without Haki, but still too many for comfort. The one on my side and a particularly deep one on one of my shoulders caused me the most concern, and I turned back to see Lin sitting on the scratched and knocked out forms of skinny-Cat and cow-man. She had one of the cat-claw gloves on and was testing it out on the wood of the ship's deck.

"That took longer than expected," she thought out loud as she pushed herself up and dropped the glove back onto the two men she had beaten. The still-unharmed members of the crew were cowering in fear, too shocked by the sudden defeat of all their strongest members to dare try to attack us.

"Fast enemies aren't my strong point," I muttered grumpily. "Order these fools to steer the ship away from the island. I'll get the marine ship headed the opposite direction," I told her as I hopped onto the other boat and messed with the controls. It took a while of single-handedly adjusting all the sails, but I managed to get it heading away from the island in the exact opposite direction that Lin had steered the Black Cat ship towards.

I leapt back onto the Dying Dream, meeting up with my Navigator who was coming out of the trap door that led to the infirmary. Her job had been done faster since she had more people to do the heavy tugging and lifting. She ran a hand over her short gray hair as she walked over to me. The adrenaline rush of battle had faded away and taken the insanity out of her eyes and aura, leaving her as the laidback, snarky brawler of my crew once more.

She looked up at me and gave a small grin.

"Katie was moaning about how she missed out," Lin told me, snickering. "And she calls _me_ an adrenaline junkie."

"She hasn't admitted to herself about how she likes to fight, yet," I agreed with a smirk as I headed to the helm. "Alright, Navigator. I can't steer the Dying Dream as well as Katie, but I'm good enough. Tell me what to do to get us to that island!" We could finally see the lump of land in the distance, and it made relief start to sweep through me. Only a little longer. Only a little longer, and we could find a doctor.

—*—*—*—*—*

I pulled us up to port with a small jolt that made me wince. Katie would have docked it so much more smoothly, and I was hoping more and more by the minute that she would get better fast.

"Want me to carry her up?" Lin asked from behind me. I turned to her, shaking my head.

"You look more innocent than I do," I admitted. With Lin's boyish-cut gray hair, pretty green eyes, small stature, and curves she looked like the last person who could (and would) jump on top of you and jab her elbow into your eye while grabbing another guy's neck at the same time to ram his face into the ground. Even with my childish freckles, I was doubtlessly a fighter. My muscles showed slight definition against my skin (I still remained lanky because of the disease, and not totally buff), my waist was wider than most girl's because of the abs that lay well defined and exposed under my crop top, I was far taller than most women, and even without Stormfall I never took off my axe's weapon holster.

"The locals will trust you faster, and I don't want you straining yourself carrying Katie," I continued. "We need a doctor fast, and you're more approachable. While I get Katie, I want you to see if you can find the local clinic or doctor's house."

"Aye," Lin agreed with a nod before leaping off the ship and running further into town. I watched her begin to talk to locals for a moment before turning and heading down into the infirmary.

I walked in to see my first mate with the covers pushed away on her cot and trying to stand up despite the fact that her temperature had rose slightly more than a whole degree. I growled, making her look at me, startled, as I stomped over and picked her up. She was light, especially compared to the weights I used to lift back at Dawn. I needed to get a set of them for the boat, I realized dimly before shoving that thought away. Katie first, exercise equipment second.

"What did I say about overworking yourself?" I asked irritatedly as I carried her up onto the desk, and then slowly down the rarely-used landing platform. I only let her down long enough to drop anchor and tie our boat down before picking her up again and carrying her into town.

I couldn't see Lin, so I decided to ask around. Turning to a man behind a food stall (he was gaping at us without even bothering to hide it. A girl carrying another sick girl bridal style was not an everyday sight, even without Stormfall strapped to my back), and smiled in the gentlest way I could.

"Sir?" He blinked to attention at my voice. "We're friends with a girl with green eyes and short silver hair. As you can see, my friend here is sick and we need a doctor."

"A-ah. Yes, I remember that young lady," he told me, straightening up a bit. He leaned forward over his stall so he could point down the street. "Take a left here, and follow the road. There's a house at the edge of the forest, that's where our family of doctors lives. I believe your friend already headed that way."

I smiled, relieved. "Thank you!" I bowed only my head, considering the burden in my arms, and walked off in the direction he had pointed out. I wanted to jog, but I also didn't want to jostle Katie any more than necessary.

Soon enough, we came upon a pretty large cabin right at the end of the dirt road, where the city faded away and the forest began. The door was already open, Lin in the doorway waving to us. I nodded happily, picking up my pace to get us there faster. Somewhere along the way through the town, Katie had fallen asleep in my arms, and she barely even stirred at my increase in speed.

"What's the situation?" I asked Lin softly as a slightly older woman took Katie off my hands and set down on a cot to begin looking over her.

"They're good doctors," Lin told me just as softly as we watched the woman go through the basic tests with our sleeping First Mate. "Entire family. That's the grandmother, there's a mother and father too— they're in the next room over— and their oldest son is a doctor too, with a specialization in herbal remedies. He went into town to get ingredients to make a treatment based on Katie's symptoms. There are four other children, our age and younger, still in training."

I nodded, finally heaving a sigh of relief. There was still worry there, but this was a good house. I could feel it. Katie would be fine, being taken care of by those people. I looked over at Lin, considerably more relaxed than I had been since Katie had gotten sick.

"Go in town and restock for us, will you? We're almost out of fruit—" Lin interrupted me with a scoff.

"And whose fault is that?"

I ignored her. "We're running low on meat, too. And Katie has been wanting more vegetables…" I trailed off as I tried to think of anything else we needed.

"Don't rush, your friend won't be cured in one day," A male's voice reaches my ears. I turned to see what must have been the oldest son. He had— _purple_ hair. Purple. My color. I liked him already. It was close cropped and slightly messy, pairing well with his gray eyes. "It's probably a cold or flu by the symptoms your friend gave us," he said as we made room for him to pass us and place his groceries down on a heavy wood desk near the bed Katie had been laid on. He pulled it bundles of herbs and flowers, a couple various other things I didn't recognize as well, and set them down in a neat line on the desk as he spoke to us. "My name is Razdall. I'm the oldest son and resident Herbalist of my family," he turned around and held out his hand. His eyes were soft even though he didn't smile, so I took it to mean that he wasn't much for outward or blatant affection. I took his hand with a small grin.

"I'm Maven. This is Lin, and the girl who's sick is Katie. We're the three members of a pirate crew— peace mains— that I started up a little over a week ago."

"That means you're the captain then?" He asked, seemingly not at all shocked to hear that we were pirates. I nodded to his question with a proud smile on my face. "What's the name of your crew? So I know what to look out for in the newspapers," I didn't miss how his eyes had flickered over to Stormfall.

"The Hopeless Pirates," I said smoothly. He raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment on the odd name. He moved away when his grandmother called for him, and they spoke to each other in soft tones before Razdell nodded at something she said and moved to wash his hands in a sink next to his desk.

"It's the flu," he told us finally, moving to chop up and grind some of the ingredients he had bought in town. He had set a pot of water to boil on a hot plate nearby. "With the immune disorder Lin told us your friend has, it's a good thing you got her to us this quickly. She'll need a full week to recover, but if all goes well she should be ready to sail again in four days. If, of course, you promise to get a doctor on board soon," he turned to give us a hard stare. "It's necessary if you insist on having someone in her condition on board. Why did you let her on if she's in such a condition that living longer than three years is almost ho…" he trailed off, eyes widening slightly before he turned away from the concoction he was making completely, his gaze turning piercing as he looked me and Lin dead in the eye. I felt my mouth quirk up in a lopsided grin.

"Smart guy," I praised, my voice barely above a whisper. "It's a secret of course, but we're all terminally ill. I trust you won't tell anyone, even when we begin making names for ourselves?" There was a clear warning in my tone, but it didn't even make Razdell flinch. He returned my gaze evenly before spinning around and continuing whatever he was making with his herbs.

"I won't tell anyone," he agreed stiffly. I wondered if something we had said had hit a soft spot. "But why?"

"Why did we start a crew of dying people?" I asked, to which he slowly nodded without turning around.

"We have dreams," Lin took over for me, her slightly rough voice soft and loaded with determination. Unshakeable. "We don't want those dreams to die with us before we can even try to live them. Maven's just the crazy person who's willing to put up with a crew full of living dead people," Lin was silent for a moment. "The only person in the world stupid enough to say, 'I don't care if you're dying, I won't let you do it alone and I'll give you an adventure beforehand,' as if it's not hard as hell to decide to start a crew that's likely to die before you. As if it isn't something amazing, to personally revive people's hopes after they've been told that they have no chance of being cured or living a full life," Lin's hand were clenched and her eyes shone, but she refused to let loose tears. I gaped at her, shocked by her words. Perhaps I should have expected it, but being hit with the awe in her words knocked me completely by surprise. "The world will know our names before we die. Maven will make sure of it."

The hair hung heavy and silent. My throat was suddenly dry, so I asked for some water and received bland instructions to the kitchen. I followed them as if on autopilot, pulling a cup from the heavy wood cupboards and turning the faucet on to fill it with lukewarm water. I didn't turn as I heard footsteps approach slowly behind me. I sipped at my water, trying to come to terms with Lin's speech. _I_ knew that what I was doing was something I thought was necessary. I wanted to give people their adventure, their dream. It was not something I thought heroic or noble. I tread the possibility of giving them false hope, of failing them. But it was what I had interpreted as what I was meant to do before meeting back up with Luffy. Just for three years, that's it. That's as long as I planned to keep the crew going. But Lin had sounded as if I was some kind of hero, sweeping in and giving them hope. I didn't know how to feel about that, part of me wanted to be proud while the other half felt like a fraud.

"Your friend has a lot of faith in you," a soft woman's voice spoke up, making me jump. I had forgotten that someone had come into the kitchen behind me. I turned around, seeing a woman I didn't recognize. Her shoulder-length wavy purple hair gave her away as being Razdall's mother, though, despite the fact that her eyes were brown instead of gray like her son's. She smiled gently at me, much softer and more soothing a presence than Razdall's. "I'm Rizalla. Razdall is my oldest son," she confirmed my deduction. "I couldn't help but hear you and your friend talking to him. Do you believe your crew will be successful?"

I hummed in thought, sipping at the glass of water in my hands. "I know it will be hard," I chose my words carefully. "But I want to give all of us a chance to have an adventure. To be free and feel like we aren't sick. To at least attempt our dreams. It's something we can't do if we're bundled up being coddled in bed," I answered honestly. "I don't know how long we'll last. I don't know how strong we'll be. But I'll do my damned best to make sure that every member I pick up feels free and happy before they die. That, I promise."

Her motherly gaze met mine, swirling with thought that I couldn't even begin to decipher. Then her smile dripped away and she came closer to me.

"Take Razdall with you," her sudden request made me twitch, blinking in confusion. She didn't let me talk. "He's a very competent doctor, and you'll need one on a crew like yours. He…" she looked to the doorway quickly before turning back and lowering her voice. "He has a heart disease. The best he can do to extend his life is eat well and keep himself calm. But even then… a few years, at most," she confided, making my breath catch. How did I inherit Luffy's devil's luck? I seemed to run into possible members wherever I went, and the thought would have made me happy if the requirements to join the Hopeless Pirates didn't make the idea extremely unsettling. "He started looking into herbal remedies to find natural ways to treat himself. It turned into a passion of his," a soft, sad smile graced her lips. "He's always wanted to study the plant life in the Grand Line, without any way of getting there. Will you take him?"

I frowned, setting my glass down. "We _are_ heading to the Grand Line," I held up a hand before she could get her hopes up. "But something like this should be his decision, and his decision alone. Especially with remaining calm being an important factor into his life span. Pirates don't lead a relaxing lifestyle. It's very likely joining us will kill him faster," I pointed out. "But if he decides to join of his own free will, then I will not turn him away."

Rizalla took a deep breath, letting it out slowly in her relief. "That is call I could ask. Thank you."

I didn't respond, leaving my cup in the sink and leaving the room to check up on Katie.

—*—*—*—*—*

"MAVEN!" A familiar voice called out as a short body ran toward me from the dirt road leading into town. A day had passed since we had arrived, and Katie was already looking better. I had just been about to head into down, but Lin's excited voice stopped me in my tracks. She was waving papers in the air in one hand, wearing a smile that threatened to split her face in half. "MAVENMAVENMAVEN! Look at this! Look at this!" The girl finally reached me, shoving the papers in my face. I spluttered, flinching back in surprise before taking them from her with a raised eyebrow.

"What's the rush? Did someone put kiwi in your breakfast?"

"Kiwi doesn't make people hyper, Maven. That's just _you,_ " she deadpanned, making me chuckle in embarrassment. She rolled her eyes before her excitement came back and she was pointing at the papers again. "Just look! Look!"

I sighed and looked down. My eyes instantly widened. Right there, smack in the middle of a sheet of slightly yellow paper, was a picture of Lin as she was in the middle of jumping on someone's back. Her eyes were crazed, short hair flowing in the wind, a manic smile spread across her lips and baring her teeth slightly. A bounty poster.

"Rabid Linral, wanted dead or alive. Ten million belly. I whistled, looking up at her with a grin. "Not bad, _Rabid Linral,"_ I said appreciatively. "Not a bad nickname, either."

"Now the next one! Next page!" She was practically jumping up at down. I rolled my eyes at her again and flipped the page. I blinked.

I had seen someone taking a picture of me the day before when I had went into town to get dinner, but I hadn't realized it had been a marine. Because of that, the picture was of me holding up a sign that said, "I see you, idiot," in one hand as I smirked at the camera. I thought he had been trying to be sneaky, so I had decided to be cheeky in return.

"Wanted dead or alive, 'Usurper Maven'— _twenty one million bellies?!_ " I looked up at Lin with wide eyes.

"Probably because you took down Kuro, who was worth thirteen million, plus his top crew members, _and_ because you're my captain and I took down a whole marine ship on my own," Lin pointed out, practically bursting with energy. I let out a breathy laugh, shaking my head.

"I bet my Gramps was told about this as soon as the Marines were notified about what we did," I mused out loud. "Probably the other higher ups that know, me, too. That's the only reason my nickname would be 'Usurper Maven,' stupid idiots think they're being clever," I said, voice thick with amusement.

Lin chuckled. "A play on your disease," she said with a snort. "I didn't think it was possible for a name to somehow be intimidating, hilarious, dorky, and depressing all at once. Know I know otherwise."

I chuckled in agreement before rolling both poster up and leading the way inside. "With bounties like these though, we'll have bounty hunters after us. With Katie still recovering it's best if we lay low and go into town with disguises from now on until we can leave," I was about to enter the room where Katie was, but was stopped by Rizalla and the grandmother. They both held bundles of clothing in their hands, knowing smiles on their faces.

"I read the newspaper every morning," the grandmother said, humor in her voice. "The two of you have been nothing but kind and good guests, good crew members too with the way you care for your friend. Take these clothes— and best leave your axe here, girl, if you want to stay hidden."

I rubbed the back of my head. Stormfall _was_ pretty unique and easily recognizable. On the other hand, I didn't quite feel safe without it. I snapped my fingers, turning to Lin. "After you get dressed, would you grab Stormfall's blade cover from the chest under my hammock? I don't want to go without it, but maybe covering the blade will help people overlook me.

Lin looked at me in disbelief. "Yes, because there just _have_ to be other almost six-foot-fall women with giant axes on their backs," her voice dropped with sarcasm. I ignored her, taking the pile of clothing meant for me from Rizalla's hands with a soft thank you. Lin, seeing I wasn't going to be swayed, groaned and did the same.

—*—*—*—*—*

Blade covered and disguise on, I headed into town to get lunch. I wore a long brown wig, straighter than my natural hair and falling right about mid-shoulder blade, opposed to my natural hair that fell just below my shoulder blades. I wore sunglasses to cover my distinctive eye shape, a long brown circle skirt that fell a few inches above my ankle (with shorts underneath, of course), brown flats, a black blouse with slightly poofy shoulders, and my fedora nowhere in sight. It was way girlier and more conservative than my usual style, which was the point.

Sufficiently disguised, I walked into the local pub and sat down at the end of the bar, taking Stormfall off my back and leaning it against the wall to my right. Seeing a supposedly girly girl carrying a large weapon had shocked the crowd already inside, but apparently my confident demeanor had helped them overlook my odd style, because they quieted down in only a minute or two and proceeded to ignore my presence.

"What'll you have, Miss?" The bartender asked after he came over to me. I grinned.

"Whatever filling food you got, at least three plates of it to start. And the fruitiest cocktail you make," I told him easily as I leaned onto my forearm, which was placed flat on the bar top. The man nodded and walked off. As I waited for him I took out a notebook from the surprisingly deep pockets in my skirt, along with a pen, and opened the notebook up.

I would set aside a few minutes every day to write in it, and decided that waiting for my food made for a good opportunity. So I flipped to a new page and began slowly filling it up, looking up with a grin and a word of thanks when the bartender sat my drink down in front of me.

I was interrupted from my writing when I felt someone come up beside me, sitting down in the stool directly next to me. I blinked, closing the book and putting it back in my pocket. From how my face as angled down from writing, I could see the hilt of two swords.

I raised my head, and almost instantly blinked. Then blinked again, glanced down to see that I had missed one of the swords hung on this muscled man's hips, and looked back up into slightly amused brown eyes under distinctive short green hair.

"What?" He asked, clearly knowing _what._ At least, partially.

I should have expected that. I should have. The newspapers almost always had a short snippet about the up-and-rising Pirate Hunter Zoro in East Blue. I should have expected to run into him eventually, I wasn't exactly visiting the same Islands Luffy did (or would?) in the manga. In fact, I hadn't been to any of the islands from the manga yet besides Dawn. Which meant that the likelihood to meeting him was high.

I quickly regained my composure, rolling my eyes at him and looking away. Right in time, since the bartender was bringing out my food right then. I grinned happily at the meat and rice and other filling and delicious foods that made up those plates.

"Just never seen anyone with _three_ swords before," I admitted in a skillful half-truth as I accepted my plates and began to dig in. Conscious of my company, I made sure to scarf down my food a little more neatly that I usually did. Zoro snorted, looking away from me a moment to order from the bartender for himself.

I took the moment to observe him out of the corner of my eye. He looked younger than I remembered, which made sense considering that he was nineteen in the manga and— holy hell, we were almost the same age. Huh. That was something I hadn't thought about before. I pushed that thought away and continued watching him for a brief moment, looking away before he noticed my stare. He was slightly less muscular than in the manga, though that didn't say much because there was muscle _everywhere_. Goddamn, the guy must work out as much as I did. And without a disease keeping his muscle from fully developing, it was able to really bulk up and push against his skin. Damn, I was envious. My eyes flicked to my lanky, slightly-muscular-looking arms in slight disdain.

"Can you actually use that?" Zoro's deep voice pulled my attention away from food and my small looking muscle structure just in time to see him nod towards Stormfall. I swallowed my mouthful of food and grinned.

"Hell yeah," I confirmed, grabbing my axe and pulling it over so it laid across my lap in between me and the green haired man. "I've trained to use one since I was nine. Trained in general before that, didn't realize that this was the weapon for me until then, though," I didn't have anybody to talk to about weaponry, so I was justifiably excited. Katie was more into bows and arrows and thigh she liked knives, she wasn't too interested in them. Lin had no interest in any weapon besides her own body, just like Luffy and Ace, so it was refreshing to have someone to talk to about Stormfall. I looked up from my precious blade to see Zoro grinning at me with a large mug of sake in one hand. I felt a blush coming on, and tried to force it away in vain. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing," he shook its head. "I just don't see many women interested in fighting, that's all. It's cool to see you using such a heavy weapon," he took a sip from his mug. I chuckled.

"It was hard as hell, I'll admit," I said as I shoveled more food into my mouth, one hand resting on Stormfall's pole in my lap. "Hard to build muscle as a girl. But everyone who says we can't be strong as men? They're idiots, and that's bullshit," I sipped my cocktail, putting it down to turn back to him. He was looking at me, interest in his eyes. I vaguely remembered his backstory, so it was only natural he'd take interest in a girl with a heavy weapon. Not out of anything but pure interest, one fighter to another, because of his past with a strong ass female he couldn't beat.

"I know," he agreed easily with a small chuckle. If there was a little nostalgia in the sound, I ignored it. "No matter if you're a guy or girl, you still have to train your ass off to be a strong fighter."

"Exactly!" I agreed happily, a large smile on my face. "I won't lie, it shortens a lot of boring fights when the guys assume I'm weak just because I'm a girl, but it gets old fast. Seeing their faces when I beat the crap out of a bunch of them without breaking sweat, though? Now _that,_ I'll never get tired of," he laughed with me, and something tense in me relaxed. It was one thing to like a character you read about or watch, and another to _know_ and like them as a person. Luffy, Ace, Sabo, Hell even the Geezer, I loved them all. But this was somebody I didn't grow up with, somebody I knew very little about, and it felt good to know that it was easy to get along with him. He'd eventually be in the same crew as me, after all. It was good to be able to get along.

We chatted easily throughout our meals, though I absolutely did _not_ fall into the trap of agreeing to a drinking contest with him. I wasn't an idiot, not even if Luffy and Ace _did_ rub off on me a little. I did sip at some fruity wine as we talked, though, marveling at how much he could drink without getting more than a little tipsy.

Soon enough the sun was starting to go down, and I knew I'd have to get back to the doctor's house before my friends worried. I paid for my meal, but Zoro grabbed my hand before I could stand up. I blinked, having not expected the sudden contact. He pulled his calloused hand away when he noticed he had my attention, still mostly sober (how?!) despite the small pile of empty sake mugs next to him.

"I'm in town for a couple days, and nobody else in town is strong as far as I can tell," he said as he leaned back against the bar. "So, if you're okay with meeting me in front of here tomorrow at noon or something, would you mind sparring with me? Fighting against weaklings won't keep me in top form."

I stared at him in shock for a second before breaking into a smile so wide I ended up hurting my cheeks. "Ah, I'm up for a spar any time," I agreed, pleased that he thought of me as strong. "Not sure how well I'll do though, our weapons aren't exactly evenly matched," I admitted, knowing he was likely far faster than I was. He chuckled and shook his head.

"Don't sell yourself short. With how easily you hold it, you can obviously swing it a lost faster than most people could," and _obviously_ he would pick up on what I meant right away. Of course, axes were naturally slower weapons than swords so it probably hadn't been that hard to pick up on my worry. "And I've never fought an axe wielder that didn't move as slow and heavy as an elephant, so it'll be good practice for the both of us."

I nodded, my smile smaller but still just as happy as I stood up and held my hand out to him. "You got a deal, then. I'll meet you in front of here at noon tomorrow. By the way, my name's Maven."

"Roronoa Zoro," he introduced as he shook my hand firmly.

"The pirate hunter," I said with a small chuckle. "Zeh heh. Even more reason to be proud that you singled me out as worthy of a spar."

The man rolled his eyes in good humor and waved as I finally left, Stormfall slung over my back. I couldn't seem to get the giddy smile off my face. I was raced with Monkey D. Luffy, for crying out loud! I should not have been so stupidly happy to meet one of the other main characters, one of the other future members of Luffy's crew! But I was. And I'd spar against him he very next day. Spar! Against Roronoa fucking Zoro. I could have died happily— well, after the spar. It would be stupid to die before.

—*—*—*—*—*

I changed into my disguise first thing the next morning after checking up on Katie. Lin watched me with a raised eye, clearly bemused at my sudden energy.

"What, is there a sale on mangos in town or something?" She asked as she saw me getting ready. I rolled my eyes.

"I _wish._ But no, even better!"

That made Lin freeze, staring at me as if I had grown a second head. "Better? You, of all people, actually think there's something _better_ than fruit? The world is ending! What is it?"

I grinned. "Roronoa Zoro is in town," I told her, slipping on a pair of black boots instead of the brown flats from the day before. They weren't my purple combat boots, but they at least had better grip than those stupid flats. And they were more comfortable.

"The bounty hunter?" Lin asked, crossing her arms. "Why would that be a _good_ thing? People say he's like a demon."

"Those people clearly haven't seen _you_ fight then, if they think _he's_ the only demon," I quipped, snorting at how she twitched in annoyance but didn't argue. "We met at the bar yesterday—"

"Sounds like the beginning of a very sappy and lewd romance story," she interrupted mercilessly. I threw one of my purple combat boots at her as she snickered. She didn't even try to dodge it, easily snatching it from the air.

" _Anyway_ ," I glared at her. "He's a cool guy. Didn't even recognize me despite talking to me just because he saw me with Stormfall," I jabbed a thumb towards my axe. "He asked for a spar today. There's no way in _hell_ I am denying a spar against the guy who is likely the strongest weapons fighter in town."

"That sounds like a reason most people would use _not_ to fight him," Lin deadpanned, but I knew she understood. Her dream was to fight the strongest brawlers, after all, despite whether or not she compared to them in skill. I knew I'd receive no real argument from her. "Well, You never were like most people. Come on, I'll join you. Could be interesting."

She was already in disguise. Her's consisted of a black wig styled in a bob, black sunglasses to cover her otherwise startling green eyes, and a forest green dress that stopped right at her knees. Compared to her usual tomboy attire of a baggy gray shirt and black basketball shorts, it was pretty good at changing her appearance. Her shoes were the same though, plain black sneakers.

I went without the skirt this time, deciding to wear a purple tank top with long black pants under it, the material surprisingly flowy and stretchy. Still, they were better fitted and much easier to maneuver in.

I tied my brown wig back into a ponytail, and decided to leave my sunglasses at the house this time, my gray eyes being normal enough to not draw too much attention despite the distinct flat, amused shape to them.

It only took a few moments to meet the moss-head in front of the bar. He was standing leaning against the wall, one hand casually resting on the hilt of his white sword as his eyes scanned around him. I grinned, waving to get his attention. He saw me and grinned, pushing off the wall to come over. I met his halfway, hands on my hips. That was when I noticed it, and laughed.

"I'm actually taller than you! Holy hell, I didn't notice that yesterday!" The sight of his annoyed face just made me laugh harder. He had probably been a bit taller in the anime but, seeing as I was meeting him three years earlier, it shouldn't have been so surprising to see that he was almost a full inch shorter than me. But the intimidating, confident aura he gave off just made him _feel_ taller.

"Shut up," he growled, looking away with a slight blush on his cheeks of embarrassment. I let out one last chuckle before holding up my hands in mock surrender.

"Okay, Okay. Sorry, that was immature of me, Zeh heh. Just surprised me," I admitted. "So where do you wanna spar? Closer to the forest?" I suggested, jerking my head in the direction. He nodded, relaxing again.

"Ah. Probably the only place we can do it without too much collateral damage," he mused. I nodded in agreement.

"By the way, this is my friend Lin," I said, gesturing to my navigator with one hand. "She's a fighter too, though she prefers brawling over weapons," I sighed in mock disappointment, making Zoro chuckle as Lin smacked the back of my head lightly. "Is it alright if she watches?" Zoro shrugged.

"I don't mind," he said easily, starting to walk towards the forest. I followed, walking in the middle of him and Lin. We were able to find a nice open spot right outside of town, nothing in the immediate area to get in the way. The both of us wasted no time getting into position and drawing out weapons as Lin walked a safe distance away to sit on a rock and watch.

The two of us stared at each other for a long moment, looking for any openings in the other's defences. My legs were wide, Stormfall held in that easy position where the pole was diagonal across my body, though I had my blade a little lower than usual in anticipation of this fight being tough. Seeing him with his white sword in his mouth in real life, opposed to on a page or screen, was odd. And it was only being able to see the tension in his jaw that I realized just how strong his facial muscles had to be to hold his weapon so firmly, meaning he had to exercise them on a daily basis. I mentally filed away a note to ask him how he did it.

The blades were threatening in his grasp, more so than Kuro's or anybody else's swords had ever been to me. It was easy to see his skill, his _power_ in his stance. I shifted just a bit, narrowing my already narrow eyes as I realized my chances of winning were fairly low.

He made the first move, running towards me with a speed I almost couldn't match. I quickly blocked the swords in his hand with Stormfall's pole, ducking around the one in his mouth. It was like a dance, the way we moved around each other. Both of us moved with surety in our footsteps, no hesitation to be seen. I swung Stormfall upward, needing to use my killing strikes and go all out against him even in a spar in order to have any chance, just as he used killing strikes against me to try to gain ground. For a long several minutes the clashing of metal rang in the air as we struck and blocked, neither of us landing a single hit on the other.

I squatted low on my knees, practiced hands sliding up to hold Stormfall right below the blade, allowing me to swing the blade more quickly towards his face. Zoro grunted, sharp eyes looking down at me sharply from under his bandanna as she dodged the swipe, earning a paper-cut wound from being just ever so slightly too slow. It was so thin that it only looked red, barely even shedding a single drop of blood. I _tsked_ , jumping back to avoid his attack as he tried to catch me between the two blades held in his hands. His head swung to the side, sweeping his white sword's blade towards me. I ducked, vaguely registering that my head felt lighter all of a sudden. I saw Zoro's eyes widen before his shock faded and he lunged again, not one to be distracted from a good fight for very long. I met him halfway, swinging my axe's pole up to block one of his swords and used that contact with his weapon to lever Stormfall up and towards the man's chest. He dodged to the side, reaching out with his right arm in a precise strike that I only half-dodged, earning a long but shallow slash along my arm, partially opening up the dabbed over cuts near it that I had gotten from Kuro two days earlier.

I saw an opening as I landed Stormfall's blade in a swift downward stroke, getting soundly blocked by all three of Zoro's swords. I took it, leaning forward and aiming Stormfall's spear tip at his throat. Apparently Zoro had seen a similar opening in me.

We both stopped, his white sword's blade an inch from the side of my neck with Stormfall's spear tip only a breath away from impaling his throat. We just stood there, both of us completely out of breath and my arms stinging with exertion.

And we _smiled_ at each other. The smile of a fighter knowing they had met an equal, of the pure _joy_ of a hard and exhilarating fight. Slowly, we pulled away and sheathed our weapons.

"Why the wig?" His sudden question yanked me out of my post-battle excitement where I relished the last bits of adrenaline in my blood, and whirled my head around to see why my head had felt lighter a few minutes earlier. My brown wig was on the ground, exposing my real black hair that was pinned up in a bun to keep the unruly strands from poking through the fake hair. I cursed, walking over to retrieve my wig just as the sounds of heavy footsteps thundered into the clearing, two loud voices calling out;

"Zoro-Aniki! Zoro-Aniki!"

"Bro, bro! The townspeople say 'Usurper Maven' is in town! She just got her first bounty, it's over twenty million!" Two men ran up to us, waving my bounty poster in one hand before they realized exactly what they were seeing. Me, holding a brown wig in one hand and Stormfall in the other, looking straight at them and sweaty along with Zoro, with his paper cut along his cheek and in a similar exhausted state as me, staring at them with wide eyes.

"Johnny! Yosaku!" I clenched my jaw, jamming the wig back on my face as I went over to Lin. We both stood up and tried to sneak away, but Zoro saw us, easily catching up and putting a hand on my arm. Lin hissed and landed in a fighting stance, but I shook my head at her and she relaxed.

"You're a Pirate?" Zoro asked, easily meeting my gaze. I nodded.

"Peace mains. My crew and I don't plunder," I told him. He let go of my arm. I gave him a half hearted smirk. "Pretty damn awesome fighting though. I haven't had to fight that hard in a _long_ time."

I turned to walk away with Lin, his voice lazily drifting behind us.

"You're pretty good too, I've never tied before. Guess I can't catch you if we're evenly matched…"

I blinked in surprise, but didn't turn around even as I grinned. "Eh. Even pirates have to eat. And that bar in town is pretty popular," I hinted over my shoulder. Neither of us said anything else, and Lin and I made it back to the doctor's house.

Not a perfect day, but at least Zoro didn't try to catch me after finding out I was a pirate. Small victories. And… I may or may not have promised to meet him at the bar sometime soon? I smirked at the thought as I took off my wig and went to see Katie.

Not a bad day.

—*—*—*—*—*

**Don't worry. It's just friendship and respect, I don't like instant romance so expect it to be very long in coming. Like, not even a hint of real romance until** _**after** _ **Maven and Luffy reunite. Zoro'll show up for a little bit in the next chapter too, then it's off this island and onto new adventures and more OCs, hooray! XD**

 

**That's all for this chapter, see you next chapter~**


	10. Chapter 10

I stretched out my arms and shoulders, looking out to see the sun rising on our fourth day on that island. Part of me itched to leave already, but another part wanted to stay. Zoro was there, and he was easy to talk to. Not to mention that whatever was left of the fan girl I used to be was begging for me to talk to him again.

But I couldn't get too distracted by the green haired man somewhere in town. I had a crew to run, a crew that was in desperate need of a doctor. I had given Razdall plenty of time to think over what Lin had told him about our crew, plenty of time to make a decision. So I walked into the room where his desk and supplies were, along with the cot that Katie had been using since Razdall had first started treating her. She was already looking so much better. Her color was back, and without the flush from the fever. Her breathing was stable and clear, and she looked more relaxed than she had since she had gotten sick.

Razdall was sitting at his desk, grinding something with a mortar and pestle. He sighed, which let me know that he was aware of my presence, but he didn't turn around.

"I threatened Linral with a syringe full of Nightshade extract if she interrupted me while I was mixing up medicines, in case she didn't tell you," he said in the bland tone that I had come to realize was his usual voice. Knowing what he had to do to keep himself from shortening his life span, I understood and knew that he was probably more soft than he let on.

"She told me," I admitted easily. "Aren't doctors supposed to sweat an oath not to hurt anybody with their knowledge and skills?"

"Normal doctors, ones who learn from a university maybe," he told me nonchalantly. "I was mentored by my parents since I was little, and made no such vows."

"Because your dream to study the herbs in the Grand Line meant a large chance of you becoming a pirate," I mused out loud. His hands froze for a moment before continuing what he was doing.

"Maybe. I should have known my mother would tell you about that," he let out a low groan of annoyance, but I could tell it was halfhearted. Bad, bad Maven. No disease puns! I hummed in thought.

"Well. Someone with extensive knowledge of herbs and edible plants is already valuable on a pirate ship, not to mention somebody who knows how to weaponize their properties," I forced my voice to sound casual as I put my hands in the pockets of my latest disguise-skirt. The room was silent, filled only with sounds of our breathing, Katie's soft snores, and the grinding of herbs in his mortar and pestle. I let out a huff.

"Okay. You're obviously stubborn," I crossed my arms. "That's fine. I grew up with three of the most stubborn men in the world, you're a pushover in comparison."

"Very good job of trying to warm me up to you," he bit back sarcastically. "I can feel myself bursting with admiration in your social skills."

"Oh, like you're any better," I replied. "And honestly. We're the only crew in the world crazy enough to bring you along with us. Most other crews would look for a healthier doctor, no matter how skilled you are. We don't care about preexisting health conditions. We _all_ have a goddamned death certificate waiting to be dated and signed for us," I ran a hand through my hair. "Nobody here can understand. Your parents never had their family tell them from a young age that they were dying and unlikely to live a full life. Me, Lin, Katie? We are the only people who understand well enough to treat you like a normal goddamned person instead of looking at you with pity when we think you can't see. And if you want to even attempt your dream, our ship is the only way you're gonna even get to the Grand Line. If you wanna stay here where it's easier to stay calm, I won't argue. I can understand all too well the desire to fight for just another second of life. But if you want to see your dream come into reality, then you'll be on our ship tomorrow morning when we get ready to set sail."

The _clunk_ of marble on wood sounded heavily as he set down his tools and spun to look at me. "Tomorrow? Why the hell are you leaving so soon? I told you Katelyn needs a full week to properly recover!"

"You also said she'll be well enough to set sail in four days. Today is day four. If you want to assure her health, then you'll need to find us a doctor to keep on board," I smirked at him and started to leave.

He didn't need to know that I had no intention of risking Katie's life setting sail without a doctor. Sometimes, a little bluff was what was needed to push a stubborn idiot into action. I paused in the doorway, turning around to see, from my new vantage point, that he had been steadily working on a pile of orbs that he had carefully stacked in a woven box. Seeing the label each orb had, I let out a strangled sound of frustration. He was smirking at me.

"You— those are smoke pellets you made with specialized herb mixtures! You were planning to join the whole time!" I pointed at him accusingly. He snickered at me, turning away to resume his grinding of his precious herbs.

"I was curious as to how you were planning to convince me to join. It might have worked too, if I hadn't already decided I wanted to. Honestly, the only person I _wouldn't_ threaten with poisonous substances is whoever I accept as higher ranking than me. That should have tipped you off right away, _Captain._ "

"So you'll just sit there and trick me into a whole speech and laugh silently at my expense, but oh, at _least_ you won't threaten me with poisoning!" I threw my hands up in exasperation, even though I couldn't quite force my smile away. "Just so you know, I call all of my crew members by a nickname. Linral is Lin, Katelyn is Katie, and you will be Raz."

"Splendid. Can I call you by a nickname then?"

"Sure. What will it be?" I asked, curious.

"Idiot," he teased with a small smile, making me twitch.

"Declined," I deadpanned before turning to leave.

"Maven," he spoke, causing me to freeze once more. "Dictionary definition; a trusted expert in a particular field who seeks to pass on knowledge. Synonyms include; Expert, enthusiast, connoisseur, maniac, Ace," he listed easily. "I forget the rest of the synonyms, but those stood out the most. You are quite an expert with people, aren't you? You know how to speak to different people to sway their decisions."

"I think I'm more of an expert when it comes to desires," I answered back. "All of us desire a full life before anything else, but we aren't likely to get that. So our dreams are our second strongest desire, and I know how to talk to people willing to chase that desire down without ever giving up. It's the same way I imagine talking to my childhood self who had almost given up on actually _living_ ," I replied, finally exiting the room.

—*—*—*—*—*

I was in a clearing near the woods, practicing basic stances and maneuvers with Stormfall. I was swinging it down in a classic overhand, counting the reps as I heaved the heavy weapon over my head and towards the floor, stopping it right before it could hit the dirt with a massive straining of my muscles.

"Two thousand," I huffed.

A low whistle brought my attention up to a certain moss head who was walking up, making me grin as I straightened.

"That takes some strength," Zoro praised as he came up to me. "When I practice overhand swings, I just stop it at my hip."

"You also use swords, and not an axe," I pointed out with a grin. "Lighter weapons means that it's easier to stop at a moment's notice. Not the same for me," I lifted Stormfall off from where I had rested it on my shoulder, swinging it in an easy circle. "So I practice stopping it as suddenly as possible to limit any chances of accidents later."

Zoro nodded in appreciation. "You couldn't very well be called a good fighter if you let your weapon's weight control your strike," he agreed. "I wonder which one of us would have won if that had been a real fight, yesterday." He mused. I straightened my back, leaning Stormfall back on my shoulder.

"Me," I stated easily, making his sharp gaze snap to my face. I help up my free hand in a placating gesture. "When it comes to pure skill with our respective weapons, we're about equal. But in a real fight…" I pursued my lips, trying to figure it how to word it. That's when I caught Yosaku and Jonny cowering around the side of a building. Apparently my bounty had intimidated them. I raised one hand, beckoning to the spineless idiots.

"Oi, lend me one of your swords for a second," I called over to them. Zoro's eyebrows furrowed as his hands went to one of his plain hilts.

"If you need a sword in order to show me something, I can—"

"Nah, I don't want to leave you without all three swords just in case the three of you get surprised with a fight. We know those two would just hide behind you anyway," I explained flippantly, not feeling guilty at the way my easy words had devastated the two lesser swordsmen in the background. "Besides, your katanas are more expensive than their standard blades."

Johnny finally mustered up the courage to walk up to me, handing me his sword. "N-not like you're _actually_ gonna break it, right?" He asked with a nervous smile. I just blinked at him, doing nothing to soothe his nerves, before turning back to Zoro. I jerked my head to indicate a tree stump nearby, walking over to it ahead of him. I slipped Stormfall easily over my back into its holster, knowing I wasn't holding Johnny's sword correctly and not really caring. Seeing me kneeling next to the tree stump and looking up at him, Zoro closed the distance and sat down on the other side of the stump from me.

I lowered my voice, making sure my arm wasn't in view of Yosaku or Johnny. "This is a trick taught to me by someone who spends most of his life in the Grand Line. He taught it to me because he knows I want to be strong, and a lot of people know how to use this in the second half of the Grand Line. I'll eventually head there, so I made sure to learn it so I would be ready," I told him a fluid mix of truth and lie. The truths in the statement were the only important parts anyway. I laid my arm flat so he could see it, and spread my Haki over it from elbow to fingers. Zoro's eyes widened at the obsidian shine my arm had suddenly acquired. I raised Johnny's sword, bringing it down over my Haki-Coated arm.

"Oi!" Zoro yelled, but immediately fell silent when the blade shattered after slamming into my reinforced limb. He blinked several times in wide-eyed shock. I set the hilt aside, brushing the shards of metal into a small pile with my blackened arm before letting the Haki fade away from it.

"See what I mean?" I looked up into his eyes. "In a real fight, I would have just spread that over my neck so that your katana couldn't slice me. Then, I'd be unharmed and you'd be dead," Zoro was silent at the realization that I hadn't used all my tricks during our spar. I reached into the pocket of my disguise's skirt, pulling out a notebook. Zoro's eyes focused on it.

"You were writing on that when we met in the bar two days ago," he pointed out. I nodded and held it out to him, making him look up at me in shock and confusion.

"This journal holds all my notes on this ability. It's called Haki. There are three different types, which are all described inside," slowly, Zoro took the booklet out of my hands and flipped through the pages as I spoke. "I had planned to use it to teach my crew members, but I already memorized almost everything I wrote down there anyway. If you're gonna be the strongest swordsman, you'll need to be able to use at least Armament Haki, which is what I just used on my arm," I explained. "You can use it on your weapons too, to keep them from breaking or to help them slice through harder material. But do us both a favor, and keep it a secret," this made him look up from the notebook and into my eyes again. "People aren't supposed to know about Haki outside of the second half of the Grand Line or the rank Vice Admiral and above in the Marines," That made Zoro stiffen in surprise. I nodded to confirm that I was not joking at all. "If it becomes common knowledge that you know how to use it while you're still in East Blue, then you'll get a lot of unwanted attention. So keep it quiet until you have a good handle on it. It's not easy to learn, but…"

"But you gotta work your ass off if you wanna be a world class fighter anyway," he finished for me with a predatory smirk. It faded away as he asked; "Are you sure I can have this?" He tapped the journal. I nodded.

"Yeah. You're pretty cool, and the only other people I'd want to teach are my crew. Like I said, I memorized enough about Haki that I shouldn't need the book anyway. But my crew and I are leaving tomorrow, so I figured I'd leave you with something to help you towards your dream," I grinned at him. "I'm a pretty big dreamer too, you know. One day, I'll be the most badass girl in the world. And anyone who still thinks girls can't be as strong as men will have to eat their words as soon as they meet me," I confided. I hadn't even told my crew about my dream, but I knew Zoro would truly appreciate it, and I felt like it was okay for me to tell him. He grinned back at me, standing up and putting my— now his— Haki journal in his haramaki at the opposite hip as the one that his katanas were held on.

"Maven! Maven! There you are! Doctor Razdall said he agreed to join the crew! Why didn't you tell me?!" Zoro and I stood up at the same time, turning to a girl walking towards us that made me cross my arms and frown.

"Aren't you supposed to be in _bed_ , Katie?" I asked the shorter woman, making her freeze mid-step for a moment before she smiled nervously and finished walking up to us.

"My fever broke! So Doctor Razdall said that I could walk around a little as long as I made sure to rest if I felt lightheaded," she assured me, making me sigh even as I relaxed a bit. I saw Zoro giving me a curious stare and I shrugged as I turned to face him and raised a hand to gesture to my blonde Nakama.

"Zoro, this is Katie. She's my first mate. The only reason we've stayed on this island so long is because she got sick and has been recovering at the house that belongs to this town's family of doctors," I explained, which made Katie look over at me curiously.

"Zoro? Like Roronoa Zoro, the pirate hunter the newspapers have started talking about recently?" Katie asked, looking away from me and to the green haired man with wide eyes. "And the two of you are just… talking. Like normal people?"

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Neither of us are _normal,_ Katie," I said at the same time that Zoro shrugged and stated; "Maven's not an asshole so I don't see the problem."

My blonde friend blinked again, then rubbed her forehead. "I… I don't know if this sudden headache is from my flu or not, but I have a feeling it's more likely because of the fact that I've come to accept this as my new 'normal' in life," she softly bemoaned.

"Didn't Maven just say that you're her First Mate? You seem a little… innocent," he admitted. Of course, he wasn't wrong. Katie was the most normal looking of all of us in the Hopeless Pirates thus far, with her shoulder-length gold hair, bright blue eyes and girly style she wore she looked like any well-off teenage girl who spent her days shopping rather than traveling on a pirate ship.

I decided to relieve Zoro of his illusions, lifting up one side of the cardigan that Katie was wearing over her usual mint green dress to expose the daggers at her hips. She even had a brand new bow and quiver of arrows hidden at the small of her back. Zoro's eyebrows shot up.

"Don't be fooled by her appearance. I trained her in knife fighting myself, and she already joined my crew as a pretty good shot with a bow. She's a bit sheltered maybe, but you're wrong if you think she's any pampered little rich girl," I stated bluntly, which made Zoro level Katie with an approving smirk.

"I'm quickly sinking into the insanity that comes with being part of the Hopeless Pirates," Katie admitted with a wry grin. "I'm just holding back on admitting it just yet," she then raised a hand to her mouth hurriedly, letting out a few rough coughs. I glared at her.

"I knew you were overworking yourself again. I _told_ you, even _I_ know when to rest," I growled in my worry, swinging my First Mate over one shoulder much to Zoro's amusement. Now I had Stormfall's blade peeking over one of my shoulders and Katie's body over the other. Said girl had already resigned herself to her fate, not even worried about her dress since she had shorts under it like always.

"It's just a _cough_. Honestly, I haven't completely recovered so obviously I'm still gonna cough," she complained grumpily even though she did nothing to fight my hold. "It's _normal_. Normality, you know, that thing that you've ignored your whole life?"

I ignored her comment (and Zoro's snickers) and headed back to the doctor's house with Zoro following close by. Halfway there I went ahead and let Katie down to walk on her own. Too many men in town were trying to look up her dress, and despite the fact that I knew they wouldn't see anything I still didn't like it so I decided to make it harder for them. Lin joined up somewhere along the way, and I found myself dimly wondering if it hadn't been choreographed somehow. Ignoring that passing thought, I continued my chat with Zoro as Katie and Lin spoke about supplies they still needed to stock up on for the Dying Dream.

"I have different training methods listed in the notebook," I was telling the muscular man. "Some of them require a partner though, so I wouldn't recommend those. It might take a little longer, but you'll want to only use the solo methods unless you manage to find someone you trust _completely_ to help you practice."

Zoro nodded in agreement and understanding. The conversation switched over from Haki to weight training.

"I use three thousand pound weights whenever I can find them, but with how often I travel I'm usually stuck using boulders or trees around the same weight," he was explaining as I nodded with a hand on my chin.

"Damn, I'm only at two and a half thousand, che," I commented in slight annoyance. Zoro glanced over at me, eyebrows raised a little. I grinned over at him slightly. "I told you, women can build muscle like men. It's a lot harder than it would be for you to build the same amount, but it's possible if a girl's determined enough," and if there was one thing I had in spades, it was determination.

Heh, _spades._ Damn, I was missing Ace pretty badly if I was making poker puns in my head.

Zoro shook his head with a small smile. "It's getting harder and harder to compare you to the kind of girls I usually meet," he admitted to me. "For one, nobody's ever really been interested in talking about training with me, guy _or_ girl. It's a good change of pace," he leveled a smirk at me. "Of course, I've also never had to talk to a girl while she was in disguise. In fact, I don't think I've _ever_ talked to a pirate outside of a fight to try and drag them in for their bounty,"

"Again, I'm uni—"

"Oi. You're that doctor kid, right?" A rough voice was saying right around the corner, in the direction of the path to Razdall's house. I sped up without finishing my sentence, but the three people with me just followed since they had heard the same thing I had. "Give us medicine for flu and wound infections," the rough voice demanded. Rounding the corner, sure enough, we saw three thugs surrounding Razdall. He had apparently just come from town to buy some herbs and other ingredients for his concoctions, since he had two large bags in his hands as he leveled a blank stare at the guys around him.

Lin let out a low growl, immediately stepping forward. I grabbed her wrist, which made her look back at me in surprise. I didn't react, eyes glued to the scene.

"Why would you want medicine to cause flu and infections? Getting tired of your friends?" Razdall snarkily asked in his usual bland tone. One of the men aimed a wide punch towards Razdall's face, which he easily ducked under without even seeming to notice he had been attacked. Then he switched his bags so they were both in one hand, swiftly reaching into his belt and jabbing a syringe he had taken form it into the guy's underarm before any of them could act. I smirked.

A few men who looked rather beat up came out of the woods armed with knives and guns. Knowing better than to push my luck, I let go of Lin and let her leap at them.

Zoro watched this all with slightly amused eyes, glancing over at me. "You have an interesting crew," he remarked as Raz shoved two more syringes easily into the arms of the two other thugs who had threatened him, making all three of them fall to the ground passed out cold. "They're not gonna leave anyone for us to fight, are they?"

I looked over to where Lin was already shoving the gun of the last goon that came out of the forest right into the guy's own face, and shrugged. "We were too slow," I said with a smirk. "The Hopeless Pirates might not be a pillaging crew, but we're probably the single hardest crew to intimidate. We know we're far from the strongest pirates on the sea, but it takes a hell of a lot to make us flinch," I shared one more grin with Zoro before looking up to a certain purple-haired man who had just seen us and stepped over the passed out bodies of his victims to head over.

"It's just a tranquilizing agent laced with some herbs that will temporarily turn their fingers purple." He told me even though I hadn't asked. Zoro twitched at my side.

"Wha— Why would you add something like that to a tranquilizer?!" He practically shouted. Raz just blinked at him.

"It wasn't intended. That was my experimental batch, the purple fingers was an unintended side effect of the new formula. I wasn't going to let it go to waste though, so I figured I'd use it on those imbeciles. They were giving me a headache anyway," he turned to look at me again. "Oh. And I loaded all my equipment and materials onto the ship already."

I nodded, trying to fight back a smirk at Zoro's annoyance with my newest addition to the crew.

"Raz, this is Roronoa Zoro. Zoro, this is my crew's new doctor, Razdall."

Raz looked at Zoro, and held up a syringe I hadn't even seen him grab. "Can I test out my newest formula on the Pirate hunter?"

"No," I flapped a hand. "He's cool," Zoro was staring at me as if I crazy to act like what Raz was saying was normal. I just shrugged at him in response. "Okay. So maybe we're one of the hardest to intimidate _and_ one of the craziest," I conceded. "Can't deny that we're efficient."

"No… I guess not," Zoro replied slowly. Raz suddenly snapped his fingers after putting away the syringe.

"Oh yeah. I headed back here after shopping to find you guys, a marine ship is headed this way. We should leave before they get here."

I nodded as Lin and Katie, who were both close enough to hear, yelled; "SHOULDN'T YOU SAY THAT _FIRST?!"_

Raz shrugged at them. "I forgot. Those idiots distracted me," he gestured towards the passed out bodies of the dozen or so men from a few moments earlier.

"Lin, go with Raz and make sure everything is packed up from the house. I'll head back to the Dying Dream with Katie to make sure we're ready to set sail," I ordered swiftly, turning to Zoro with an apologetic smile as my crew mates went off to do as told. "Sorry, looks like our plans got pushed forward a bit," I apologized even as I made sure Stormfall was secure on my back and took off my wig, removing my real hair from its bun so it was free to tumble down my back. Zoro shook his head.

"Nah, it's fine. With bounties like yours, they are probably gonna at least send a Captain or Lieutenant after you. But we're both aiming for the top, so we'll meet up again eventually. Just don't die first," he smirked at me challengingly. I returned it.

"Same to you, don't get chopped in half or something before we run into each other again. See you, Zoro!" I waved as I jogged away, feeling slightly disappointed to be leaving before we could have a few drinks together at the bar again.

I easily caught up to Katie, who was only speed walking since she knew I would have yelled at her if she tried anything more strenuous in her state. Still, considering the rush we were now in I scooped her up in a bridal hold and ran us towards our ship at full speed. I set her down on the deck, raising the anchor barehanded before untying the ship from the docks and following Katie's orders on how to prepare the sails so we could easily pull away from the island.

Five minutes later brought Lin, who had completely shed her disguise and was back in her lazy shirt and shorts, and Razdall running up. Well, Lin was running. Raz was doing more of a measured jog, his face looking bored. Lin tried to grab Raz to jump on board with him, but he easily dodged and walked up the landing platform as the short girl just shrugged and leapt from the docks straight onto the deck. Lin started calling out instructions on where to steer towards, and I went to stand on the middle of the three heads of Cerberus figureheads at the bow of our ship.

I raised my arms into the air. "ONE MORE MEMBER AND WE CAN HEAD TO THE GRAND LINE! THE HOPELESS PIRATES WILL BE KNOWN ACROSS THE WORLD!" I shouted into the air, gaining the attention of a few townspeople who were close enough to hear my bellow.

Lin and Katie cheered behind me, and the soft chuckle I could hear from Raz spoke volumes. Our real adventure was close at hand, and I had a damn good crew willing to back me up completely.

—*—*—*—*—*

"Ow!" Katie hissed. She was blindfolded as she sat in a chair, at the mercy of me and Raz as we flicked or poked her randomly on her arms or face. It was Haki training, which Raz had spontaneously decided to join in on once he saw that it involved inflicting minor pain on a captive. Perhaps I should have been more worried at how easily I accepted such a blatantly sadistic person into my crew. Eh, we were pirates. It would be fine. Lin would be switching out with our First Mate after an hour, considering she could already beat me in a brawling-only spar.

"Is dinner almost ready, Raz?" I asked, the doctor having volunteered to make the meal for us. It had already been a whole two months since he first joined, Haki training for the two girls having also been going on for about that long. The four of us were used to each other enough that two facts were simply accepted as truth that we lived by. One: Lin was disaster in the kitchen and should never be allowed to cook. Two: be suspicious of any and all offers of "help" from Raz. It was this second point that had all three of us girls already with a bag of food from the pantry set aside for us to eat in the nearly inevitable event that we didn't trust whatever Raz put in front of us. He was almost always stoic, so it was nearly impossible to tell when he was being scheming or genuine, and that made him a veritable minefield bear approached carefully or else someone would end up with herb extract slipped into their food to turn their skin polka dotted with lime green spots. Albeit, Katie and I had laughed at Lin mercilessly for the whole week it had taken _that_ particular prank to wear off, but regardless it had driven to home the fact that our doctor was best treated with care.

Also, during the time since Raz had joined, he and Katie had gotten their own bounties from all the raids of marine ships that we did to keep our treasure and food stocked. Raz was now known as "Misery's Herbalist Razdall" worth thirteen million, and Katie was known as "Dark Nymph Katylan," worth ten million like Lin.

"Hmm? Oh yes, it should be ready," Raz replied as he went to check on the large pot and the pan he had on the stove. He after a moment he came back with a plate and bowl for each of us. It looked like a simple steak and soup, with the stake accompanied by vegetables and a yummy looking sauce, and the soup loaded with greens. I licked my lips despite my suspicion, deciding to just dig right in, caution to the wind.

It was delicious. The steak was perfectly cooked and the soup was clearly made with both nutrition and flavor in mind, I could practically feel the properties of the herbs flowing through my blood. I asked for seconds _within_ seconds. Heh, wordplay.

Lin came in after Katie called her, looking suspiciously at the serving laid out for her and no doubt recalling the polka-dot incident as she cautiously sat down. She looked from the food to Raz.

"Let's see. I haven't interrupted you during work at all recently, I haven't annoyed you that I know of…" Lin said slowly. After apparently coming to the conclusion that she was about as safe as she would ever be from Raz, she also dug in. Raz ate his own share calmly, gaze focused on my two crew mates.

Oh. Maybe it wasn't so safe after all?

Sure enough, it only took five minutes for the girls to feel the effects. Lin froze mid-bite, like a statue. Katie's body dropped as if she suddenly lost all control of her muscles, almost sliding off the chair before Raz picked her up in a puppet hold, like she was sitting up in his hands. I blinked at him, still feeling fine and devouring more food. I didn't speak, knowing he always explained himself right after the effects of whatever his latest mixture did showed up.

"I added safe quantities of a new muscle relaxing agent to Katie's food. She's showing signs of getting sick again and since she hasn't notified anybody yet, I decided to make the first move. As for Linral—" he still referred to Lin by her full name, I figured it had something to do with her apparently being his favorite lab rat, "—I was testing out a new formula for a paralyzer that is fast acting but keeps the victim awake and completely lucid," he also referred to any enemy he used his concoctions on as _victims_ , "I was thinking about making a vial of it for Katie to dip her arrows in. I'm glad to know it works. Could you put a timer on, Maven? I'd like to know how long the effects of this batch last," he said before leaving with Katie in his arms in the direction of the infirmary.

"Wheh oo you nah 'et tessed on, 'aaen?" Lin asked as well as she could, considering her lips wouldn't move. I set my spoon down, and went to the kitchen door.

"Raz! The formula apparently doesn't completely paralyze the tongue, Lin can still slightly talk!" I called down to our doctor, not at all ashamed to be helping him with his research. I could feel Lin's glare on my back.

"Aco'lis," she accused me the best she could. I looked back at her, batting my eyes innocently.

"I'm the captain. It's my _job_ to help my crew members accurately accomplish their jobs should they need my assistance," I replied sweetly. "Raz obviously respects my role in this crew enough to give me an exemption from his experimenting. But don't tell him I said that, I rather not jinx it."

"Trayor," Lin grumbled. I just shrugged and sit down to continue devouring my food.

Twenty minutes later (I _did_ have a timer set) and Lin's paralysis wore off. As soon as she could move again completely, she asked for a "spar" to take out her anger at me. Knowing full well that my chance of winning was only fifty fifty, I accepted… and walked away with bruises considering I only sparred with her without any weapons, and her anger allowed her to utterly maul me. Almost literally.

"We need to work on your restraint," I muttered as Raz was forced to examine my bruises and make sure nothing was broken.

"If our Captain was any less skilled of a fighter, she would have _at least_ sprained several muscles. Most likely would have been bedridden for a week to recover from various fractures and breaks," he looked up at Lin. "As it is, she clearly managed to maneuver in _just_ the right way to minimize damage," he turned to me. "You're fine. You'll be sore and bruised up a bit, but with your healing rate you should be completely recovered in a day or two. Meanwhile, are you interested in discussing my plans for lengthening the time span of that paralyzing formula I was testing earlier?" I looked him in the eye, sorely tempted at what he was hinting at.

"... No, no I should be a _mature_ captain and not fall down the slippery slope of petty revenge," I slowly answered him, voice dripping with reluctance that made Lin yell out an offronted 'oi, don't sound so regretful!'

"Very admirable," Raz said with a nod as he stood up and went back to the infirmary where Katie still was. "Our dear First Mate was starting to catch a virus. I caught it early enough, so she should be fully recovered about the same time as you, Maven.

I yawned, stretching as I went to the side to pick up a two-thousand-pound weight I had gotten custom made at one of the last islands we had landed at. I lifted it from the pole and began doing reps as Lin calmed down and checked her compass.

"We'll reach the next island in a little over an hour," she told me as she went to adjust a sail. I nodded so she knew that I heard her, my energy and breath focused on the exercise rather than vocally replying.

"We haven't run into a single person with a terminal illness on the last islands we stopped at," Lin mused softly as she sat on a crate nearby to watch me. "I mean, I'm happy because that means that there are a few less dying people to cause someone grief. But at the same time, we need more members. Who do you think we'll get next? A chef? A shipwright?" I just huffed to express 'I don't know,' as I grunted out:

"fifteen… sixteen…"

—*—*—*—*—*

Another two weeks passed. Another island visited, and no new crew members gained. I knew, logically, that it was fine. I still had plenty of time before the scheduled meet up with my twin at Loguetown, but I was also getting a little antsy. The sooner I had that last member that I deemed necessary to have before attempting to enter the Grand Line, the sooner I'd be that much more relaxed.

Once again I was out on the deck, heaving my massive weight in overhand reps. "One hundred and seventy four… one hundred and seventy five…" I muttered. A scraping sound made me pause mid-swing, arms aching in protest at holding such a heavy weight without moving. But I kept it still. Raz was down in the infirmary experimenting, which only I could interrupt without consequence. Katie was at the helm, perfectly in view, and Lin was on the highest deck at the back of the ship where she could get a clear view of the sea in front of us. That's why hearing soft footsteps coming from the direction of the cabin area set alarm bells off in my head.

Slowly, I lowered the weight to the ground and switched it out for Stormfall. Katie noticed my movement, but I waved a signal for her to stay put that she reluctantly obeyed with a frown.

I stepped slowly towards the cabins, careful to silence my normally heavy footsteps. The door to the women's cabin was open, making me clench my jaw. I peeked in through the gap to see what was clearly a girl with orange hair rifling through our belongings and personal chests, probably looking for money if I had the identity of this woman assumed correctly. I padded backwards softly down the hallway the way I had come, going back out onto the deck and putting my axe down. Katie looked back at me, raising an eyebrow in a silent question. I went over to her, leaning to her ear.

"We have a thief on board. I'm gonna duck down to the storage rooms, keep an eye out and stop her from leaving. Don't hurt her, we don't want to collect too many non-marine enemies," I whispered before moving to the trap door and going below deck.

I passed the infirmary door, entering the door for one of the storage rooms. It was well stocked with the loot we had gained from all the looting on marine ships that we did, and probably only left untouched because the orange haired thief would have had to walk right through us to get to the trap door leading to it.

Ten minutes later, I was sitting on a crate above deck looking at what was doubtlessly Nami, being held by Lin with one hand and at arrow-point by Katie, who was lounging easily halfway across the ship.

Nami was wearing a short sleeved shirt, but Lin's grip had pushed one sleeve up enough for me to see a slight hint of a tattoo. I looked into nami's eyes.

"Whatever you took from our cabins, drop it," I said with steel in my voice. She stated back at me without making a move. I rubbed a hand over my forehead. "Look, I could ask my doctor to give you a tranquilizer and take back whatever you stole myself, but he's busy and you _really_ don't want to be his next guinea pig. Just ask Lin, she's his favorite target when he can't practice on marines," I said, nodding to the short girl who huffed in annoyance but didn't argue.

"Threatening me with torture?" Nami seethed, hatred thick in her tone. I shook my head.

"No. It's just a fact, Raz likes experimenting. It probably wouldn't hurt at all, he's not _that_ sadistic towards strangers, but it would doubtlessly be humiliating. He has a fondness for pranks like that," I admitted with a sigh. I reached behind the crate, pulling up a cloth bag that jingled and instantly drew Nami's attention. "Listen. We're not a crew that likes being violent very often. We usually keep our attacks restricted to marine ships and other pirate crews that get in our way or annoy us. But the only things of real worth that we keep under our hammocks are things that are important to us, so we can't let you have them. But if you give us everything you took from our cabins, I'll give you this portion of our treasure. It's worth about ten million bellies, give or take," Nami's back straightened as Katie and Lin gaped at me.

"Maven, we can just take back whatever she has hidden on her! You shouldn't encourage a thief!" Katie argued. I raised an eyebrow at her and leaned back.

"Really? Because _we_ steal from marines and rival crews all the time, so what does that make _us?"_ Katie closed her mouth with a _click._ "I've heard about a thief that steals only from pirates every now and then from the pirate ships we end up attacking. This is probably her," I locked eyes with Nami, who didn't even try to deny it. I looked over at the girl who was holding the ginger's arm. "Lin, push her sleeve up. I can see the beginnings of a tattoo there."

"Wait!" Nami protested, trying to yank herself out of the gray haired girl's grasp in vain as Lin did as I asked. We all stared straight at the mark of the Arlong Pirates. My jaw clenched. Even remembering what I did from the manga, it was still a tough pill to swallow. I heard rumors all the time about Arlong's hatred of humans, and it wasn't too hard to imagine how he would treat a human "crewmember."

"That's the Fishman pirate's mark," Katie gasped, lowering her bow and walking over, her eyebrows knit. "But Arlong hates humans."

"His bounty is only four million less than yours," Katie piped up, looking over at me. My bounty had risen slightly in the last two weeks, and the picture had changed to one of me holding a sign up towards the camera that said "Hi Luffy, Ace and Sabo!" As I held up a peace sign with my other hand and was slightly scuffed up from the marine ship raid that had just finished. Those marine photographers were a little too obvious. I had taken to carrying a sign with some kind of quip on it in my pocket to pull out whenever I saw one aiming a camera at me.

Nami's gaze whipped to me. "So you really _are_ Usurper Maven," she breathed, eyes sharp. "You seem a bit…"

"Overly relaxed?" Lin offered at the same time as Katie piped up; "too forgiving?"

I glared at them briefly before sighing. "Look, we're not a normal crew okay? Anyway, Arlong doesn't seem like the kind of guy who'd order anyone to raid pirate ships for him. He seems more… arrogant and flashy sort of an attacker," I mused as I leaned forward on my knees. Stormfall was leaned against the side of the ship, showing how I wasn't planning on attacking. Nami looked away, clenching her jaw.

"She's gotta be the only human in the crew," Lin spoke up, that comment aimed at me. "And earlier, before you came up, she was shouting about us being 'filthy pirates' and when we tried to get her to _peacefully_ sit down and wait for you, she kept spitting about how she wouldn't sit down and chat with a bunch of 'stupid pirates."

Nami didn't say anything, making me sigh.

"Did Arlong make you join against your will?" Katie asked softly, making Nami's head shoot up. That was all the confirmation we needed. My hands clenched into fists and Lin's grip dropped from Nami's arm. The girl quickly swiped her sleeve down to cover the tattoo again, and pulled her bo staff out, assembling it with record speed before holding it towards me in an attack position. Lin backed off to lean against the side of the boat, clearly not worried. Katie also went to sit down on top a crate. We all knew that the ginger would not be able to fend me off with a staff unless she was very skilled with it. The fancy twirl she had done suggested _some_ proficiency, but…

"Your knees are bent inward too far," I pointed the mistake out, making the other girl blink. "I could easily set you off balance. And don't hold the staff diagonally _towards_ your enemy, that's a good way to offer them a chance to yank it away," I stood up and did exactly that, grabbing the end of the weapon before she could move it away and snatching it from her. I spun it just as easily as she had, making her gape at me with wide eyes.

"I trained with a staff and two hatchets as a kid before moving on to my battle axe," I explained, moving her staff in a swift downward sweep at the air that would have knocked my enemy down if it had been someone that wasn't imaginary. "My brothers and I would go into the town nearest the place we lived, and we would fight hoodlums and thugs to steal their money to add to treasure stash. Then we divided that stash evenly between us when we were ready to set sail. We called it our Pirate Fund," I told her as I continued going through the familiar motions of attack patterns with her staff. "Even as a little ten year old, I'd be able to take down at least five or six thugs at a time with my old staff. It retracted into a smaller size so it was easier to carry though, rather than splitting apart like yours," I turned to the girl, who was frozen in shock, and held the weapon back out to her.

"So… strong..." she breathed, "I couldn't even follow half those attacks with my eyes!" She looked from her staff up to me and back again. I shrugged.

"Speed isn't my strong point, but it's easier with a weapon as light as that. You could be a real force to be reckoned with if you wanted to be, but you clearly lack training," I went over to lift up the bag of treasure. "I don't know what Arlong did to you. I don't know why or how he forced you to join his crew. But it isn't right. Joining a pirate crew should be done of someone's complete free will. It seems like you might need this money more than we do, so you can have it. Just give us back our personal treasures, chances are they have more sentimental value to us than they can earn you money wise," my voice was soft at the end.

I wasn't sure which part of our interaction had swayed her, my demonstration with her staff or my speech, but she lifted up her shirt and let the things she had taken from our cabin fall out. I moved forward and leaned down to pick them up, perfectly within striking distance for her if she decided to kick me. But she didn't. I dumped the small pile onto the crate I had been sitting on before, laying it all out. Katie and Lin grabbed the things that were theirs, while I stared down at some things that would have made me _very_ angry had I actually lost them. I took a deep breath, carefully lifting up the pair of earrings Ace had stolen from some noble and gifted to me for our twelfth birthday. And the belt Luffy had stolen for my thirteenth birthday that was hand-embroidered with purple roses and could hold four knives or daggers, two on each hip, and had a rose gold buckle. I put them down again, picking up the bag of treasure I had taken from our storeroom and handing it to Nami, who took it hesitantly. She looked confused, probably at our strong reactions to the items she had almost stolen.

"Thank you," I smiled. "These were gifts from my brothers. Losing them… losing them would have really hurt," I admitted. "But, that's that," I looked over to Lin and Katie. "You guys can go of your stuff back, and if you wouldn't mind would you put my stuff back and straighten up the room again, too? I'll get started on dinner."

My crew mates nodded. Katie carefully took my up things, doubtlessly having noticed and been surprised by my strong reaction to them as well, and both girls disappeared in the direction of the cabins.

"Well uh, I guess I'll just… go now?" Nami slowly spoke, as if not completely sure. I felt the corner of my lips twitch in amusement. She was easy to read when she wasn't trying to be unreadable.

"You can help out with dinner," I said. "We'll consider that compensation for the difference in belly and the stress that you put us through," I said with an easy grin. "You can eat with us too if you want. And… heh, if you really want I could show you a few tricks with the staff.

Her eyes glittered. "Really?! And you'll add another five million bellies for my help with dinner right?!"

"Declined," I deadpanned. "But being personally trained by me should be _worth_ at least five million bellies, so don't feel cheated or anything," I led the way to the kitchen. "Come on. I need to be fed with a _lot_ of food, so the sooner we start the better."

"Uh, don't you mean your _crew_ needs a lot of food?"

"No, it's mostly me. I eat about a solid three-fourths of all the food made at every meal for the four of us. Most of it being fruit."

"...fruit?"

I turned to her with a large smile and opened up the pantry door so she could goggle at the proportion of fruit to all the other food stores inside.

"I _love_ fruit," I stated reverently. "Love. You can start by grabbing at least ten pounds of whatever fruit looks good into that large bowl," I pointed to a woven basket sitting on one shelf. "And about two pounds into the smaller one next to it."

"Wow, you eat two pound of fruit by yourself?" She asked with raised eyebrows. I blinked at her.

"Huh? Hell no. The _small_ bowl is for everyone else to share, the ten pounds is just for me."

Nami gaped at me. "Ten… ten pounds…?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, I'm cutting back a little since we're running short."

The ginger looked from me and to the overstuffed shelves of fruit.

"Running… low…"

"Yup."

"Ten pounds is… cutting back.."

"Yup."

" _WHAT KIND OF MONSTER ARE YOU?!"_

"You get used to it eventually," Katie and Lin's voice rang from behind us at the same time, their voices equally deadpan. "It takes a while, but you get used to it."

"Zeh heh heh."

_End of chapter. Total time since Maven has left Dawn: Approximately three months._

_Total time left before scheduled meet up with Ace at Loguetown: Three months._

— _*—*—*—*—*_

_**Omake** _

_Somewhere in the Grand Line:_

A certain blonde walked through the hallways of one of the Revolutionary's bases, giving a small wave or short call of greeting to the other revolutionaries wandering the halls or carrying out their respective duties. A burn scar carved over the left half of his face, oddly enough doing _nothing_ to inhibit his good looks, received from his carelessness during a recon mission. Somewhere along the way, he was handed a newspaper. He flipped it open as an orange headed woman pulled up next to him.

"It looks like we have a tip that might help us gain access to one of the countries on our list. Sabo— Sabo?" She looked over to see that the blonde man has stopped in his tracks, grinning at a sheet he had taken from the newspaper. The woman turned to walk back to him, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What's so funny? Oh, are those the new bounty posters?"

Sabo looked up and grinned at his friend widely, nodding as he walked into the mess hall, where he had been heading anyway, and walked briskly over to a clean spot on a table so he could fan out the posters over the wood surface. He pulled two of them up and placed them above the others, three lined out below.

"Usurper Maven and Portgas D. Ace?" The woman read the two posters at the top, eyebrows wrinkled. "Don't they look really similar? They could be twins," she stated, startling as Sabo broke into bellowing laughter next to her. "What? What did I say?"

"They're my siblings. Maven's my sister and Ace's my brother," he replied, unable to wipe his smile off his face. "And don't spread it around, they clearly don't want anyone to know the truth if Maven hasn't made her family name known yet, but they _are_ twins."

The woman's eyes were wide in shock. "Huhh?! Your friends have some pretty good bounties for East Blue Pirates, your sister already has twenty-four million, that's not bad!" She remarked, picking up the two posters to scrutinize them, looking for any family resemblance between them and her friend. "What about the other three?"

Sabo grinned, pointing to where a head of wavy black hair with a familiar purple battle axe resting diagonally across it could be seen somewhere in the background of all three of the other bounty posters he had picked out.

"It looks like my sister has found a really interesting crew," he said with a smirk.

_**End omake.** _

— ***—*—*—*—***

**Omakes, so far, are all canon for this fic.**

**Guys. Guys. Loguetown is the last town before the Grand Line, where** _**Log posts** _ **are necessary for navigation. Log posts. Loguetown.** _**Log town.** _ **Oh my god, the mangaka is heavy handed with his foreshadowing and puns everywhere, and yet it is so easy to not notice. My god. I feel dumb now. Town of Beginning and End, Loguetown's nickname, can also have another meaning besides that of Gold Roger's legacy. As in; you'll need a Log post at the beginning and until the** _**end** _ **of the Grand Line. Gyahhhh!**

**Okay. Epiphanies aside, this chapter started slow and took off. Nami… Nami was** _**not** _ **planned to show up, she just kind took over at the end. She stole the end of the chapter from me before I even noticed she appeared.**

**Thank you all for reading! See you next chapter~**


	11. Chapter 11

**Warnings: Torture/abuse is mentioned and seen in this chapter. Tread with caution if you are easily triggered. Even if you aren't that easily triggered. Stuff gets dark and** _**bad** _ **. (edit: not nearly as bad I thought it was gonna get though. Ended up fairly tame, actually :/)**

— ***—*—*—*—***

Nami has spend the rest of the day on that odd ship with the handless clock on its Jolly Roger. It had seemed that the longer she spent around them, the odder they got. Especially the crew's captain and doctor.

The doctor had surfaced from somewhere under the deck when she had finished helping Maven cook dinner. He seemed nearly emotionless, though occasionally she would catch sparks in his eyes that suggested otherwise. And he had slipped something into the silver-haired girl's meal (Lin, Nami reminded herself. The girl was Rabid Linral) that made the girl's voice turn deep like a man's for almost an hour.

Nami would never admit how hard she had had to keep herself from laughing. The constant glances from the doctor worried her that she might be the next victim of a prank like that if she brought too much attention to herself.

The weird crew, led by their monster of a captain, actually offered the orange haired girl to stay overnight. Overnight, her, someone they had caught trying to steal their obviously important belongings just a few hours earlier! They just confused her more and more, and she couldn't help but wonder how the hell they were Pirates. They didn't seem arrogant or violent like the Fishmen back on Conomi. The Linral girl looked like a classic tomboy, probably the same age or slightly older than Nami herself. And that Katie girl looked far too well mannered and innocent to belong there, surely, despite the knives on her hips and the arrow she had aimed at Nami earlier that day.

The only one who actually looked like a Pirate was Maven, with her surprisingly muscular and tall form with her wild hair and rebellious smile. And the axe, Nami couldn't forget the wicked looking purple battle axe that somehow melded together beauty and horror in its graceful metal curves. But Maven was goofy. She had piled literal pounds of fruit into her mouth at dinner, along with the filling meal of rice, grilled vegetables, and roast meat that Nami had help her make. And the girl _trained_. Nami has never thought it possible for someone other than a Fishman to lift over two thousand pounds, but had watched Maven finish the three hundred reps with a metal weight of just that size (apparently Nami's appearance had interrupted Maven's routine with them).

So when Nami's sensitive ears had heard the crew members getting up softly in the middle of the night? She snuck out to follow. All four of the Hopeless Pirates (and what kind of crew name was _that?!)_ had gathered in the kitchen around the dinner table and were speaking in soft tones. Nami leaned back against the wall closest the door to eavesdrop.

"Arlong as taken over dozens of islands already," that was the blonde, innocent girl's voice. Katie. Nami twitched instinctually at the sound of Arlong's name.

"He's gotta be forcing them to do something for him. Pay him, work for him— something, there's no way a girl like Nami would be forced to work for a guy like Arlong if he wasn't holding something over her head," Nami heard the shortest of the four, Lin, add with surprising venom in her voice. "It reminds me of what Mayor Puckers did to me, giving me Faldo hope and asking for me to give him treasure so he could cure me. And it was all a lie," the tenseness in Lin's voice caught Nami off guard. So she wasn't the only one to go through a situation like the one Arlong put her in? And what did Lin mean, _cure_?

Nami heard a hum, something she had quickly learned was a habit Maven did when thinking.

"We might not have a lot of crew members, but we're competent," the bland voice of the doctor rose up. Nami was slightly surprised by his addition to the conversation. "Do you plan on taking him down, Maven? You hate people who force others to do anything against their will more than anyone else in the world."

Was that true, Nami wondered? Maven did seem like a strangely carefree, half-decent person for a pirate. But going against Arlong, that was suicide!

"You know we aren't scared of death," Katie's soft voice suddenly spoke, as if hearing Nami's thoughts. The ginger felt her breath stop.

"... I want to," Maven finally spoke. "I want to beat Arlong into a pulp for thinking he can use people like chess pieces—"

"I can set us on a path for Conomi Islands, I hear that's their headquarters," Lin interrupted. And Nami knew the short girl could, she was a good navigator. Not nearly as good as Nami, but definitely competent.

"You didn't let me finish," Maven's voice was suddenly sharp, and it cut through the air and silenced everyone, even Nami found herself trying to keep her heartbeat down as she strained her ears harder to focus on the older girl's words. "I _want_ to, desperately, but we _can't,_ " the regret in Maven's tone was palpable, but it did little to smother the disappointment that Nami felt slam over her. Maven has a higher bounty than Arlong, albeit only slightly, but that meant she could beat him, right? Possibly? And her crew members weren't slouches, either.

"Maven!" Lin hissed, angry and shocked by her captain's statement. Nami heard Maven sigh.

"Listen. We aren't the right crew for this, we are _different_ than other pirates. You _know_ that. Raz can't get himself overly stressed or excited, what happens if he gets attacked by a Fishman? We don't know about their resistance levels to chemicals and medicines, it's possible Raz's formulas will be ineffective. And he's not a fighter, he uses his medical knowledge to win fights rather than his strength. It isn't like Arlong is going to be the only strong opponent there, either. What about Katie? She's a great fighter, but her endurance is nearly nonexistent. The Fishmen _will_ make it a long fight. That's a fact, and Katie would not fare well at all in a long fight," Maven explained calmly, though Nami could hear a tenseness in her voice that had her surprisingly feeling a little more softly towards the odd pirate captain.

"You and Lin are monsters though," Katie spoke up, sounding desperate in a way Nami never would have expected from the polite, composed girl. "Surely—"

"You know you're grasping at straws there, Katylan," the use of Katie's full name one again forced utter silence. Maven hardly ever deviated from the nicknames she had chosen for her Nakama. "Let me ask you this. First, Lin is a brawler. Fishmen are known to be at least several times stronger physically than normal humans. What would that mean for Lin, who only fights using her body's strength?"

Silence.

"And think about our captain as well," Razdall's voice drifted into the air again, bland but firm. "You all might think that she's invincible. It certainly seems like it sometimes with how she dominates all of our raids on marine ships. But I am the one that gives her her weekly checkups," the doctor let out an uncharacteristic sigh. "Maven is not nearly in as good of a shape as she seems. It's all she can do to stay relatively healthy. Even _she_ would struggle against an opponent like Arlong, most likely it will come down to pure luck and strategy that determines the winner. Neither party would walk away with severe wounds after a fight like that. What would happen if Maven was injured badly enough to become bedridden?"

Nami didn't understand the tense silence at that statement. Why couldn't Maven stay in bed? The girl worked out extremely hard, so maybe it had to do with an exercise addiction? Would she open her wounds because she just _had_ to work out?

Try as Nami might to justify it, that thought just didn't seem like the correct answer.

"That's that, then? We can't do _anything?_ " Lin asked, voice overflowing with frustration. Nami let out a wry smirk; she could relate.

"Nothing that will make much of a difference. Maybe we can sneak an extra couple million into Nami's treasure bag. I don't know why she needs to collect treasure, but it seems important," Maven admitted with a sigh. Nami could imagine the girl taking off her signature purple fedora and running her fingers along the rim in thought. "We need our treasure to pay for the food and other necessities. Wood and nails for emergency repairs, medicine and herbs for Raz's stock in the infirmary, fruit, clothing, juice, new weapons or whatnot, fruit…"

"I think your priorities are skewed," Katie deadpanned, noticing how often Maven had stated fruit even though she had already mentioned food. Nami wondered if the captain considered fruit to be separate from normal food, and realized that it would explain a lot.

Nami forced herself to stand up quietly, tracing her footsteps back into the cabin that she was sharing for the night with the three girls in the crew. She'd milk one more day of staff training out of Maven, and then leave. If they couldn't help with Arlong, then there was no reason to stick around any longer with those weird people.

—*—*—*—*—*

I had woken up only an hour later than my usual five-AM, mostly because of the late night meeting I had had with my Nakama, but went about my morning exercises as usual. I was halfway through my sit-ups when Nami rolled over in the spare hammock we had lent her and opened one sleepy eye to glare at me.

"... Four hundred and eighty-two…"

"Don't just go right back to exercising!" The thief whisper-yelled at me. "I've been trying to sleep through it, but I can't get back to sleep now! What the hell are you doing, training at… six thirty in the morning, anyway?" She had paused only long enough to check the time on the clock we had on the wall. I looked up and sighed at her as I kept doing my crunches, counting in my head as I replied.

"I need to… part of my… morning routine…" I huffed out between crunches. "Almost done… hang on…"

Once I reached five hundred, I slowly relaxed my body and let myself stand up and stretch. Nami had given up on sleep entirely, sitting up in the hammock and wiping her eyes with her fists.

"Are you addicted to exercise or something?" The girl asked, making me whip my head to her with wide eyes. I could feel my lips twitch before I covered my mouth, holding back laughter. Nami's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "What?! It's a legitimate question!"

I shook my head, nodding towards the door. "Let's talk in the kitchen, Lin and Katie are deep sleepers but not _that_ deep," Nami agreed with a sigh, following me into the kitchen and sitting on the edge of the table as I ducked into the pantry.

"I'm not addicted to exercise," I told her when I came out, basket of fruit over one arm as I went to grab eggs and bacon from the fridge. "I guess you could say it's…" I pursued my lips as I tried to come up with something that wouldn't be an outright lie. I didn't want anyone besides the crew and the crew member's families to know about all of our terminal illnesses. "It's a condition in my body," I finally settled on. "I don't like talking about it so I won't go into specifics. But it requires me to exercise regularly to keep myself as healthy as possible. Resting or lazing around for too long would make me sick," I told her vaguely. She let out a soft 'oh,' in understanding.

After serving Nami, the other members of my crew stumbled in at the smell of food. Even a simple eggs and bacon breakfast was greatly appreciated by them. Of course, Lin ate a (small) bowl of fruit with hers, Katie had whipped herself up a salad, and Raz… Raz was munching on flowers. Even for our doctor, the sight was slightly strange. We all wisely decided not to question it though, and sipped our drinks. Milk for everyone else (except Katie, who had tomato juice), and a giant mug of fruit juice for me.

"Alright! Lin, you're on training with me for the next hour," I called out as we all finished our breakfasts. I meant Haki training of course, but wouldn't say it out loud in front of Nami. The ginger had other things to worry about. "Katie, go ahead and relax. Just check our heading every now and then."

Nami was still nibbling on a slice of bacon as she saw me and Lin sitting down on the floor across from each other. It was an Observation Haki day, and we always started out training it with meditation before moving to random poking to try and awaken it more forcefully.

I closed my eyes and took a slow breath as I entered my meditation with Lin across from me. I had felt my awareness heightening more and more as the weeks passed, and I could just _tell_ that I was close to unlocking Observation completely.

I forced myself to focus on everything I could hear. Nami and Lin's breathing. Nami's was measured, calm, and interrupted by the sound of her soft chewing. Lin's was deep and slow, almost sleeplike. Every now and then I would hear the soft scrape of skin on skin as Lin rubbed her thumbs together, a nervous tick she had whenever she sat still for too long. I could hear the wind outside, the waves softly crashing against the side of the Dying Dream. The soft hum of the refrigerator running, the whisper of cloth and rope as Katie adjusted something with the sails outside.

_Pain pain, sorrow, fading. The feelings are fading._

My eyes snapped open and I surged to my feet, heart trying to burst from my chest. My sudden movement had snapped Nami and Lin out of their respective actions, pinning me with confused and startled stares.

I ignored them, retrieving Stormfall from where it leaned next to the door.

"Maven?" Lin asked, standing up when she saw me grab my weapon. I could hear the scraping of wood as Nami pushed her chair back to stand as well.

"What? What's going on?" The ginger asked.

"I don't know, Maven doesn't usually do this. But she only grabs Stormfall, her axe, like that when there's danger," I heard Lin answer as I shoved the door open and briskly sped outside, looking at Katie, who had turned turned around from her place at the helm.

"Did we just pass another boat?!" I asked, soon answering my own question as I turned around to see a large white ship just about to finish passing us by as it went in the opposite direction, only a few yards away. I spun to Katie again. "Turn us around! Bring us close to that boat!"

Even Raz had heard the commotion, coming up from where he had disappeared towards the infirmary only a couple minutes earlier. "What is going on?"

"We don't know. Maven and I were meditating when she just bolted up and came out here. Now she's demanding us to pull up to that ship," Lin explained even as Katie spun the wheel to turn us around.

"It's a hospital ship, Maven!" Nami told me, frowning. "You can't seriously be thinking of raiding it! That's low!" I shook my head, ignoring the look of betrayal on the Ginger's face. Not the time.

"Of course not! I'm not _that_ kind of a monster!" I roared back at her, making her flinch back. Guilt swam over her face, but disappeared as quickly as it had come. "I _felt_ something! There's so much pain from that ship—"

"It's a hospital ship, of course there's pain!" Nami yelled back, confused but stubborn. I ran a hand through my hair, removing my fedora and handing it to the ginger, which surprised her. She had probably noticed that I never took the hat off unless it was to sleep or bathe, and even then I kept it near me at all times.

"No no! Like.. it felt like torture!" I yelled, frustrated and trying to get them to understand. "Just pull close enough for me to hop off, then back off but stay where you can see the ship. I'll give a signal when I want you to pick me up again," I told my crew, momentarily ignoring Nami's presence.

"What?! You can't be thinking of going on there alone! What if it's already been taken over my pirates?" Katie asked, turning her head from the wheel to look at me with furrowed brows.

"I'll be going for stealth. Even with Stormfall on my back I'm half decent at sneaking around. Just let me check it out, okay? If there's nothing there, then this will just be a funny story to tell later. If I run into trouble, then you guys will be close enough to bail me out. That's what Nakama are for, right? Helping or each other when they get in sticky situations?" My three crew members (and Nami) stared at me before slowly caving after seeing that I wasn't about to be swayed.

I knew what had happened, mostly. For a brief moment, my Observation had awakened and I had _felt_ the emotions of the people on that boat as they passed. It didn't feel like normal sick people. It felt worse, and I could feel the slippery, oily pleasure of somebody who enjoyed inflicting pain.

"At least take me with you," Lin pleaded, walking forward with determination in her eyes. "We're better together, and none of us want our captain walking into an unknown situation alone. I can take down enemies more quietly than you can, too," The brawler pleaded her case, making me slowly let out a breath and nod.

"Alright. Just me and Lin though, and try not to be more suspicious than we already seem. We're close enough now, come on," I directed the last part to Lin, who nodded and followed me over to the rowboat at the back of the Dying Dream. Nami and Katie lowered it to the water for us, and we rowed the rest of the way to the hospital ship. I knew there was no way to tie our rowboat to the bigger craft like Nami had tied her small fishing boat to the Dying Dream, which was why I had asked my crew to come closer once I gave a signal to pick us up.

Lin hopped up onto the deck alongside me, both of us instantly couching and flattening ourselves along the wall of the ship as we assessed our surroundings.

It didn't look like pirates, in fact the few people milling around the deck looked like they worked for the World Government. They had the World Government logo on the breast of the work suits they all wore, solid black as if they were trying to remain low on the radar. I shared a glance with Lin, who frowned at me worriedly I response, and we both leapt silently over to flatten ourselves against the wall of the main area of the ship. Waiting for the coast to be clear, we slowly inched around the cabin-like structure, which was probably a common room or kitchen area of some sort until we saw some of the men entering a trap door. Realizing that that probably led to the parts of the ship we were looking for, Lin and I quickly followed.

It didn't take long for us to catch up to the man we had seen enter, Lin fluidly catching the man off guard and knocking him out with a swift fist to the back of his head.

That's when we took the time to look around. We were in a long hallway that seemed to twist throughout most of the below deck area, with doors spaced along it. It looked like a normal hospital ship that took sick or injured patients from islands with poor, full, or just no hospital at all, and took care of them as they took them towards islands that could better care for them.

But the bright hallways lacked the usual doctor or nurse that should have been walking down the hallway every few minutes to check in on the patients, and that raised red flags in my head. The clipboards in little sleeves by each door, when checked, held nothing but a brief description of the patient inside the room. Name, age, and description of appearance (height, weight, hair color, etc), and said nothing about their condition or why they were on the ship to begin with.

I frowned, getting more and more suspicious. Slowly, I opened one heavy door while gesturing for Lin to do the same. When I entered the room, I found it empty. There were a few signs that said that it had recently been occupied— ruffled covers on the bed, an empty tray of food on the bedside table— but the occupant must have been moved not too long ago. I exited and continued checking the rooms with Lin; they were all empty.

Confused, we rounded the corner to see that, at the end of another hallway similar to the last, were large double doors. Me and my Nakama traded glances, knowing that the staff we had yet to run into were probably past those doors.

We went forward, plastering ourselves to the walls on either side of the entrance. After counting down with my fingers to my friend, I kicked the door open.

It was horrific.

They were still pretty much _kids_ , almost all the "patients" aged anywhere from about ten years old to early twenties. They were malnutritioned, I likely would have seen their ribs through their skin if they hadn't all been wearing baggy hospital gowns.

Each one of them was sat on a metal table that had been nailed to the ground so it wouldn't sway or move if the boat hit a harsh wave, some of them were strapped down and being force fed something by the employees in black lab coats and scrubs. A completely black uniform, with charcoal grey medical masks on their faces. The World Government logo was on the back of all their lab coats, right across the shoulder blade area on their upper back.

We had attracted attention with my loud entry, causing the "doctors" to spin around to face us. Some of them held slightly bloody scalpels up towards us, others simply help up their fists or whatever tool they had nearby.

"What are you doing on here?" One of the "doctors" asked harshly. "This vessel is property of the World Government! Trespassing is a crime. Leave now or we will be forced to kill you!"

Kill? Then this must have been a secret project the World Government had going on. It was darker than I could have imagined, seeing all the vials of chemicals and the _experiments_ they were doing. It wasn't humane. It was cruel, and disgusting. I wanted to puke.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO THEM?!" Lin shrieked in outrage. "HOW DARE YOU HURT PEOPLE LIKE THIS! DOES THE WORLD GOVERNMENT REALLY THINK THAT EXPERIMENTING— _TORTURING_ THEIR CITIZENS IS _GOOD?!"_

"They are no longer citizens," the doctor replied coldly. "They are either hostages from countries that have rebelled against the World Government with help from the Revolutionary Army, or terminally ill individuals who are already good as dead. This is an experimental facility that is in charge of finding cures for diseases and developing important medical formulas for the glory and health of the World Government and all its _legitimate_ members."

I was trembling in anger, Lin right next to me. I had thought it cruel to simply be told repeatedly, about having a disease that guaranteed a short life. Being told that you were hopeless because you were bound to die soon anyway. But this… this was beyond anything I had had to suffer through. It was _vile._

"THEY AREN'T DEAD YET!" I shouted back, grabbing Stormfall from my back. "They still have lives to live, no matter how short they are! Dreams that they can work towards! You're _torturing them_ because of things they can't control! And the hostages— really?! They just want a better life than the half-assed the World Government allows them to have, they want to be happy! You're just proving that they were _right_ to rebel!"

"You've said enough," the asshole in scrubs pulled out a den-den mushi, his voice echoing through the speakers placed throughout the ship. "GUARDS! Alert, we have intruders. Detain or kill—"

Lin and I didn't wait for him to finish. I ran forward, ramming the butt of Stormfall's pole straight into his face and taking satisfaction from the way it crunches and the man shrieked before I slammed the pole into his temple to knock him out.

"Lin!" I called, turning my head to look into the girl's bright green eyes, burning with fury. "I'll unlock the captives. You have my permission to go _utterly wild."_

Lin grinned darkly at me, pleased that she could let loose some of her disgust on these creeps. Not even the pounding of footsteps down the hallway made us pause for a moment. Lin _charged_ at the nearest scientist with insanity in her eyes and rage burning through her every vein.

I ducked around the swipes and jabs that the scientists aimed towards me, letting Lin cover my back as I rushed to unlock the shackles, untie the ropes, or unlatch the straps that held the kids— they really were just kids, even most of the adults still had youthful faces and figures— down in various positions on their metal tables. Some of them couldn't walk, so I left them propped against a wall until I had the chance to carry them out. Some were knocked out, and two were already dead by the time I reached them. I felt tears sting my eyes that I refused to let loose. One of the dead bodies couldn't have been older than twenty, the other was maybe twelve.

Some of the captives had been held up against the wall in shackles, probably to be punished for escape attempts as I saw whip welts and ugly bruises peeking out from their hospital gowns.

The door burst open as guards swarmed in, but I knew Lin was too furious to give them much mercy. They wouldn't last. I had already heard the sound of several painfully crunching bones as I went around freeing and cooing soft words to the victims I freed.

—*—*—*—*—*

It took about twenty minutes to free everyone, beat all the employees, and tie all the bastard workers onto the same tables that they had tied down their poor victims on. The two dead bodies were carefully wrapped in white sheets by me and Lin.

Most of the people we had freed had stared us silently until one, a teenager with greasy and tangled brown hair, inched forward and looked at us cautiously before opening his mouth.

"Are… You revolutionaries?" The boy asked, sore and strained voice hopeful. "My… parents are revolutionaries… they helped free our country," he told us slowly, throat probably hurting. I imagined there must have been a lot of screaming done from the pain of the various tests the scientists had done on them. I knelt down so I could look into his eyes better, he didn't seem to have the energy to stand up.

"No. My name is Maven, and this is Lin. We're peaceful Pirates, we don't pillage and we usually only fight marines, or other pirates who try to attack us," I told them all softly, my eyes locked with the gaze of the boy who had spoken. "We hate things like this, though. We won't just let something so cruel go unpunished."

"So you're… good pirates?" Another voice asked hesitantly, this one belonging to a little girl that couldn't have been older than ten or eleven. I nodded with a lopsided smile.

"Kind of, yeah. We only hurt people who we think are bad," I said gently to the girl. "We'll bring you on our ship," I hoped we had enough space. Not including the two dead people, there were eighteen of them. "We have a really good doctor who can help you guys get better. He might seem a little scary, but I promise he is really secretly nice," I leaned forward with a hand on one side of my mouth, and if I was telling them a secret. The younger ones in the group all leaved forward eagerly to listen to me. "But soft tell him I said that. He likes to prank people when he thinks they are catching onto how sweet he really is. He pulls pranks on my friend Lin, the gray haired girl who helped beat up the scientists. One time he made her skin get covered in green polka dots!" Some of the kids laughed, some of the older ones looked slightly worried.

"He won't hurt us, right?" One of them asked, making my eyes widen as I quickly shook my head.

"Absolutely not! Even his pranks don't hurt, I promise. But he won't prank you in your state, I'm sure of it. He'll take care of you just as well as he'd take care of me, and I'm his captain."

"Woaaah! You're the captain?!" One of the kids gasped in wonder. "You must be really really strong!"

I chuckled, looking back when I heard the doors swing open. Lin came over to me, and nodded.

"I sent the signal to the ship. They're headed over," the short girl told me. I nodded and looked to the group again.

"Okay. We're gonna have to get you guys up on deck so that it's easier to get you all on my ship. Those of you who can walk, start heading up. Lin and I will follow behind," I looked over them. Some started getting up and slowly limping or walking hesitantly towards the door. I waited until most of them were out of the room before turning back around.

There were five left. Three were too weak to walk, two were passed out. Lin picked up one of the ones that was passed out, carrying him out the door after the group of victims. I sighed. Lin would get one of the others, either Katie or Raz, to get the bodies. She knew I'd be too busy getting the other four out to be able to do it myself.

Slowly, I put the remaining passed out kid over one shoulder, getting one of the weak ones over my other shoulder (I had taken Stormfall off my back and let Lin carry it for me, it was what helped signal the Dying Dream to come back) and walking to the deck with both of them easily.

I returned for the last two, Katie and Raz both at my side this time as I had suspected, to grab the last two weak people as my Nakama carefully lifted up the dead bodies. As swiftly as we could, we loaded all twenty of the poor souls onto the Dying Dream and carefully spread them out over the deck. A horrified Nami was staring at it all for a moment before she rushed around to help everyone find a spot and started handing it cups of water.

Raz started examining all of them as soon as he got back on board, moving the worst of them down into the infirmary as Katie and I tied our ship to the fake hospital ship, able to do so now that we were no longer worried about stealth.

The mood was somber, but Lin, Nami and I did our best to cheer everybody up with goofy stories, bickering lightly between ourselves, or simply being as positive as we could be in the given situation. After everyone was treated as best as possible by Raz for the day, we let them relax out on the deck as I met with Nami and he two girls of my crew in the kitchen.

"We can't keep them all on the Dying Dream," was the first thing I said, my mouth in a tight line. "I want to, I really do. But we don't have the space. Our ship is only big enough for fifteen people max, and there's the five of us here already. That's eight people who won't have any room to sleep, not to mention the two bodies."

The girls nodded grimly.

"Not to mention, our food isn't meant for that many people," Katie added. "It might last us a week, max, but only if you limit yourself to five fruit a day, Maven."

I sighed. "I can barely even _think_ of food right now. I still feel sick to my stomach," I admitted. "And we have that ship to worry about. We can't just let it go, they'll go back to doing what they had been doing this whole time. But we can't turn them in, because they're Government workers and can't be punished for doing the jobs the World Government gave them."

"I can help," the three of us spun to the kitchen doorway, where one of the captives we had freed stood. This one was about twenty, one of the oldest in the group, a young man with navy blue hair that hung heavily on his head. His bangs seemed to make little upside down wave shapes against his forehead. "I— I'm a revolutionary. I was captured while helping a country overthrow their monarch," he explained, coming over and sitting near us. He was covered in bruises and looked pale and ashen, but not as bad as when we had rescued him since he looked clean and on his way to recovery after being seen by Raz. "I ate the Message Message fruit," he looked down, biting his lip nervously. "Do you have a pen? I can show you what I can do."

I nodded, looking at Lin. The short girl ran off to fetch a pen from her room.

"My name is Bey. With my devil fruit's powers, I can send messages to anyone whose name I know. I can reach the revolutionaries that way."

I sighed in relief, sitting up straight as I looked into the boy's eyes. "Then you think you can get a group to come here and pick up the ship? If the revolutionaries take the ship and the people on it, then everything just might work out. The World Government might not ever know that _we_ were the ones that disrupted their project."

The boy, Bey, nodded as Lin came back and handed him the pen.

"Here, I can send messages by writing on my skin. Whoever I send it to will receive the message on the same part of their skin," he demonstrated for us by writing;

To: Dragon and Sabo

This is Bey. I was rescued by pirates in East Blue. Please send help to retrieve the scientists who experimented on us. Pirates are safe.

From: Bey

"Is it necessary for you to sign your name? Nobody else can send messages like that," Nami wondered out loud. Bey nodded.

"The message won't appear on the other person until I sign who it's from. And hey can reply when I do this," he brought the pen back down on his hand:

Dragon and Sabo:

"Now they have space to reply, and just have to write under their names on their hands."

"Very convenient ability," I said with a low whistle. Nami seemed skeptical, but interested.

"I thought Devil fruits were a myth," Katie said softly from my side. I grinned at her and shook my head.

"Nope. My little brother has a devil fruit ability too, it's really weird to see it though," I snorted and shook my head in amusement. "Really weird."

"Huh. Oh look! A reply!"

Sure enough, ink faded into view on Bey's hand.

Dragon and Sabo:

This is Dragon. Where are you, and what crew rescued you and the other hostages?

Straight to the point. Just like Dragon. I rolled my eyes. Bey, Nami, and Lin traded a few words about their position, and Bey continued to "speak" to Dragon. I assumed Sabo, too, but as far as I could tell my brother hadn't replied yet.

—*—*—*—*—*

We had reached the island nearest us. Katie was steering the fake hospital ship, keeping it slightly out of sight of the island so we didn't draw too much attention. We bought new clothes for all the hostages, splitting up into smaller groups and treating them to food. Nami left halfway through the day, wishing us luck. It was only after we got back on the Dying Dream that we realized she had left the bag of treasure we had given her behind, leaving a note that told us to use it for the captives we freed instead.

It took two weeks for the small Revolutionary Army boat to finally reach us I was down in the infirmary with Raz, helping him grind down herb mixtures for medicines for the still healing group. With such a large number of people to care for, he needed help. And I was apparently the only person he trusted enough not to screw anything up, because I was the only one he allowed to help him.

I was notified of our company by the thundering steps of one of the younger kids, Yalla, as the twelve year old jumped down the stairs and threw open the infirmary door with a wide smile on her face. The only reason she didn't end up with tranquilizer to the neck courtesy of Raz was due to her being a kid.

Even Raz had standards.

"The revolutionaries are here! They're here! And the blonde one is cute!" The little girl yelled happily. I raised an eyebrow at her, the corner of my lip twitching up as I put the mortar and pestle in my hands down and followed her up onto the deck.

"Cute? Aren't you too young to think anybody is cute?"

"Nope! See, see?" We had reached the deck, and she excitedly pointed up at someone, tugging at my shirt to try to convince me to look. I rolled my eyes, straightening up and raising my gaze to where she was pointing. I opened my mouth to say something polite, but the words died in my throat and were replaced my an _ecstatic_ smile.

"SABO!" I screamed, shocking everyone on board. I didn't yell like a little kid, not unless the subject was fruit related, and it startled them. Even my crew stared at me with wide eyes as I ran forward and tackled the blonde idiot in a hug. He laughed loudly, hugging me back just as tightly.

"Maven! You've been busy since I left Dawn!" He said with a shit-eating smile. "So many kids on board, do I have to beat a guy up?" I smacked his arm at his lewd joke, glaring at him playfully.

"My navigator is on the fake hospital ship, feeding the prisoners," I said with crossed arms. I might have hated those scientists, but I wasn't amoral. I gave them simple meals three times a day, but they stayed tied up or locked in rooms. Sabo nodded, getting serious again.

"Ah. I already sent some of my men over to take control of it," he nodded his head to the ship next to us, and I walked over to untie it from the Dying Dream as he continued speaking to me. "I can't believe your devil's luck, running into something like this."

I snorted. "Or somehow lucking out and having one of the captives actually being the perfect person to get ahold of you guys," I agreed. "I was practicing my Observation Haki— oh right, you were already gone when Gramps taught us about that," I looked back at him, but he just smiled.

"Don't worry, I've already learned about Haki from Dragon and the other Revolutionaries during my training," he assured me. "So you were practicing, and just happened to sense the captives?" I nodded.

"I unlocked it for a short moment and could _feel_ their suffering. I've been exercising it since, but it hasn't been as strong since then, Armament comes far easier for me," I admitted. My brother nodded, leaning against the rail of my ship as he gazed at me. I understood the feeling; after not seeing each other for years, I didn't want to look away from him, either.

"Ah. Probably because your disease has forced you to focus on your physical strength, so it's become second nature for you to be aware of your body and try to strengthen it," he agreed smoothly. "But you're smart and strategic too, so I'm sure you'll get the hang of Observation eventually. Now let me ask you something," I came over and leaned my back against the railing next to him, tearing my eyes away from my brother to watch most of the freed captives board the revolutionary boat. "I thought you agreed to be Luffy's first mate, so what are you doing as captain of your own crew?" He asked me curiously. I let out a long sigh.

"Agree not to leave until the morning at least, and I'll tell you," I bargained as I glanced over at him. He adopted a mock thinking pose, one hand supporting his opposite elbow while his other hand held his chin and stroked an imaginary beard.

"That's fine. The group on the World Government's ship can head off first, it's not as suspicious for a hospital ship to be traveling alone as it would be if it was accompanied by our boat," he agreed. I smiled.

"Good. Then you go order your men around, Mr. Hotshot revolutionary, and I'll go to my crew."

He squawked in protest, "You make me sound like a tyrant!"

—*—*—*—*—*

"Holy shit, are you serious?" Sabo asked that day at dinner, sitting with me and my crew in the kitchen on the Dying Dream. Two of the previous hostages that had terminal illnesses had decided to join my crew. One was Yalla, the little excitable twelve year old, and the other was the tall brown haired teenager who had been the first to talk to me after I freed him and the other victims, turned out he was nineteen. His name was Kilik. They sat with us around the table as I explained to Sabo about the reason I started the Hopeless Pirates.

"Well, that _does_ explain a lot," my brother admitted as he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. "I'm proud of you," he said with a soft smile. "You've grown a lot since you were that little girl who refused to get close to us because you didn't want to hurt anyone if you died," his words made all my crewmates stiffen in shock, even Raz. None of them had ever thought that their goofy, determined captain could have been such a depressing little kid. At least, that was my interpretation. I scowled at him, sipping my fruit juice for a second before slamming it on the table in annoyance.

"You didn't have to go and say that! My angsty, self-destructive childhood mentality was supposed to remain secret, idiot," I grumbled. "Besides, _I'm_ the oldest of us. If anyone should be proud of any of you, it's me. You're a revolutionary and you're already high up in the ranks! I heard your men in your boat talking about how they think you're bound to get promoted to Chief Of Staff," I grinned at him as he blushed slightly and looked away, shoveling a forkful of the dinner Yalla and Katie had made into his mouth. Yalla was a pretty good cook for a little kid.

Sabo's eyes flicked to Kilik. "Are you sure you don't want to come back with us?" My brother asked him. "Your parents would be happy to see you."

My newest crewmate shook his head, offering my brother a small smile. "No. I didn't even know I was dying until Razdall diagnosed me while he was treating my wounds," he said with a nod to our doctor. "I don't want them to see me withering away. But tell them that I'm part of a good crew, would you? I don't want them to worry."

Sabo smiled gently and nodded. "I can do that. Now then, it's late. I'll head back to my boat," he turned and pointed at me with a smirk. "And tomorrow, you and I are going to talk and catch up before I have to leave. Non negotiable, got it?" I laughed.

"I was gonna tell _you_ that! Go on, get your beauty sleep you idiot. And you are _going_ to tell me how you got that burn scar. Non negotiable."

We shared a grin before he left, and the kitchen fell silent with only the sounds of the six of us eating for long moment. Then Katie spoke up;

"I still can't believe you have a brother in the Revolutionary Army."

"A _cute_ brother," Yalla chimed in, making us all laugh even as I stuck my tongue out at her in an "eww" face that made her giggle.

"We're a family of monsters," I finally said with a shrug. "Oh right, I didn't tell you yet. We'll be meeting my twin at Loguetown in two and a half months. He's gathering his own pirate crew, in fact he even already had a bounty," I smiled. "Not telling you who he is though!" I teased, causing a collective groan from my crew, only Raz and I not joining in. "Yalla, could you grab me a mango from the pantry please?"

"Sure thing, Maven! Ribbon-ribbon: Pretty Grab!" The girl threw her hands out, her fingers expanding into ribbons and shooting towards the pantry, where they grabbed a manga and flowed back into her skin. Once her hands were normal again, she handed it to me with a large smile.

Okay, so maybe I only asked her to do it because her ribbon-ribbon fruit allowed her to do that, which reminded me of Luffy. So what?

—*—*—*—*—*

**THIS WAS THE HARDEST CHAPTER FOR ME TO WRITE SO FAR, GAH! I don't know if it is as good as the others, so I'll break it off here and hope I'm writing a bit better for the next chapter, because I want to make a chapter with Sabo really good. After that, we'll have at least one chapter with only my OCs before we get to reunite with Ace. Yay! And wow, so many reviews 0.0 let me reply to all you wonderful people!**

**see you next chapter~**

 


	12. Chapter 12

 

I glared at Sabo, who was tearing up with laughter. I picked up the piece of paper in front of me and wrote on it, holding it up so he could read that I wrote: _It's not funny, asshole._

"B-b-but!" He cracked up into laughter again. "I know. I know. I _should_ be worried as hell. In normal circumstances, I would be. But… you have a doll made to look like one of your crew members, and you're _chewing it."_

Yes. There was a doll designed to look like Lin, and my teeth were currently trying to poke holes in its torso. Why? Because my idiot self hadn't been applying the tips I had gotten from Zoro, and I woke up unable to move my mouth. So Raz built upon the stress ball grip-training that I still did every day, and made a version for my mouth. I had asked him to do that not long after we left Zoro and had wondered what was taking him so long… and received one shaped like Lin…

Come to think of it, Raz had probably been monitoring the deterioration of my jaw muscles that whole time and just wanted to see me have to use the doll in front of everyone. It _did_ get the twitch and horrified expression from Lin that he had probably been going for. And just as strength had started returning to my jaw, Sabo had walked in.

Because, fucking of course he would.

I let out a whine, writing something else down on the paper and holding it up. _I just wanna eaaaat! I can't chew fruit without my jawwwwwww!_

"You don't need to actually write out the words that long," Sabo deadpanned as he read what I had written.

"Here you go, Maven-chan!" A little voice called out, holding up a smoothie to me. I could feel tears prick the corner of my eyes. I took the doll out of my mouth, sipping at the smoothie. When the sweet fruity deliciousness encountered my taste buds, I put the cup down and hugged Yalla tightly, picking her up and spinning with her in my arms. I was pretty sure tears of joy were flowing down my face in rivers.

"I have the best crew everrrrr!" I wailed, not needing to move my mouth much to be able to speak.

Katie, Lin, Raz, and Kilik watched from where they were eating their breakfast nearby. Raz chuckled and rolled his eyes at my display, holding up a syringe.

"Maven, I can give you an injection. This formula should help stimulate your muscles so they repair and grow faster, but the effects only last about a day."

I nodded over at my doctor, putting Yalla down and chugging my heavenly smoothie before moving over to Raz. My brother and crewmates watched as the stoic doctor poked the needle first right above my chin, on either corner of my mouth, then on either cheek, and right above my lips. I shivered a bit when I felt the cold sensation of the liquid entering my skin, but then moved to replace the Lin-jaw-stress-doll in my mouth again and gestured for Sabo to come with me outside as I started working on it again.

We both leaned against the rail of the Dying Dream, silent for a moment as we let the sea breezes ruffle our hair. Sabo's had grown pretty long, I realized, and grabbed a lock of it. He raised an eyebrow at me, but didn't say anything as I lightly tugged the strand and twisted it before losing interest and letting it go.

"It's 'ong," I mumbled around the stress dummy, causing Sabo to chuckle.

"I like it longer," he admitted. "Short hair was from when I was still living in that horrible mansion. Long hair lets me imagine that I was never that person. That I was never their son," he said softly. I hummed.

"Ashe doesh da shame 'ding. He shabes cause our fasher had a moustache," I mumbled as I worked out my jaw muscles, looking over my brother's face. His eyes darted over to me.

"Ace shaves because he doesn't wanna look like you guys' dad?" He translated, curious. I nodded. Sabo looked down, sighing. "I know you told me not to be ashamed, Maven. And I'm working on it still," he admitted. "I'm not ashamed of who I am anymore. But I still don't like remembering _them_."

I shrugged, removing the jaw strengthener doll for a minute, looking up at him still. "At least you have memories as your reason. You legitimately know that they were bad people. Ace…" I ran my free hand through my hair. "Ace hates our dad because people always told him that he's the child of the devil," I whispered, turning my head to look out over the water. "And he believes them. I don't know what that says about me. If I hadn't had this disease, they would have said it about the both of us the whole time. But I wasn't there to suffer through it with him," I clenched my jaw as hard as I could in that moment. "I don't think he applies it to me," I admitted softly. "But I'm not sure. There was once, when we were kids, that he said that we were both devil spawn so we should stick together. I don't know if he still feels that way, but I can't hate someone I never met. Not like he can. And I refuse to hate myself like he does," I stuck the doll back in my mouth and resumed exercising my jaw.

After a moment, I felt Sabo out an arm around my shoulders, leaning his head on mine. "You'll help him," Sabo whispered. "We can all try, but even Luffy is at a disadvantage when it comes to helping Ace. We don't know who Luffy's parents are or were, and even if they were some big name criminal, there's no guarantee that Ace will accept it as the same situation, anyway. You're the only one who shares the same father he does, so you're the only one that he'll accept as being able to understand," Sabo's hand tightened around me. "We'll all help him, but you can probably do it best."

I chuckled around the doll, and jabbed a finger into the burn scar covering the left side of my brother's face. As he flinched away and sputtered in surprise, I mumbled; "tell."

The blonde laughed, and nodded. "Okay, Okay. I was sent on a recon mission at this marine base in the New World— that's the second half of the Grand Line, by the way. The first half is called Paradise, the second half is called the New World. Anyway, The job starts out fine. I'm weaving my way through the hallways, when I reach the records room…" I listened intently as Sabo told the whole story of his scar with a smile on his face, as if he didn't care about the pain he had went through because he had gotten something to mark his service in the Revolutionary Army. I was pretty sure he considered the scar a trophy.

I smiled as I watched him tell this story. It felt great to be able to smile at him again, to have my muscles respond.

Half an hour later, my jaw muscles felt strong enough again for me to remove the stress doll. I put it to the side, making a mental note to have it washed before I used it again. I'd also look into some of the other tips Zoro had given me; it was far past time for me to make use of them.

"So, what's the story with your two new members?" Sabo asked, looking over at me. I noticed he was a couple inches taller, but not enough for me to feel too short. I was still growing a bit, and so was he, so there was no telling what our final heights would be like. I hope we stayed relatively close though, I didn't want to have to hurt my neck looking my brother in the eye. I hummed as I thought about how to answer his question.

"I normally wouldn't let a kid join a pirate crew," I said slowly. "But Yalla's different. Raz says she has a really bad disease that slowly weakens her organs. He says it's a lot like Usurper's, but with the organs instead of muscles," I confessed. "There are things we can do to strengthen her lungs and heart, but most of them… we can only make sure she does nothing unhealthy that could speed the disease along. It's called Assassin Syndrome. Most people don't realize they have it until they just drop, as if assassinated," I let out a long breath. "She doesn't have the opportunities I do, to stall it. And she's strong," I grinned. "Her ribbon-ribbon fruit reminds me of Luffy sometimes, except her ribbons aren't stretchy and they don't recoil, so she never hits herself in the face with her own fist," we both laughed at the memories of our youngest brother doing exactly that. "She can't do close combat at all, since ribbons are pretty weak impact wise. Whenever she tries, it just feels like someone threw a shirt at you," I chuckled. "But she's like a _snake!_ The girl is so flexible and her ribbons can wrap and bind you like a straitjacket. She said she used to be part of an acrobat family before she came down with the disease and was kidnapped by the scientists," I told him. Sabo whistled.

"A nimble little ribbon ninja, huh?" He said with a chuckle. "And there's obviously no use telling her not to join since her life isn't likely to be either longer _or_ short with you guys," he mused. I nodded.

"The whole principle of the crew; forget about the time limits, the ages, the symptoms, and just focus on the last grand adventure," I agreed softly. "She's in good hands. None of us will let anything hurt her, and Raz has a lot of heart strengthening tips to share with her, at least. Plus his medicines," I squished my cheeks together. "Look! He helped me do a week's work in a little over an hour total, he's a goddamned genius!" I gushed. Sabo was smiling at me, and I just kept going.

"Kilik developed his disease while he was a hostage, apparently. It's a rare disease, and it only manifested because of the combination of chemicals those _bastards_ put in him," I was suddenly pissed, gripping the railing as I recalled what Raz had reported to me. "The chemicals are out of his body now, but they forced his body to start an abnormal function. His blood is literally _creating_ a poison to kill itself. The most Raz can do is periodically suction the poison from his blood, but he can't get enough out and it wouldn't matter anyway because the body is producing it on its own," I ran a hand through my hair. "It would only take a little slip up, a _slight_ over saturation of the venom in his bloodstream, and he'll die."

Sabo sucked a breath through his teeth. "That's a damn hard pill to swallow," he agreed. I nodded.

"On the bright side, the guy's a pretty good weaponsmith," I said, forcing a smile on my face that slowly got more genuine as I went on. "So we have someone who can maintain our weapons and make new ones for us that complement all of our unique abilities. He's even really optimistic and has given permission for Raz to use the venom from his blood in some of the gas bombs Raz makes. Apparently the venom, when in gaseous form, changes from a blood-cell killer and into a relatively harmless and highly flammable anesthetic. It has the side effect of making the victims exposed to it develop bright blue stripes over their skin that glow in the dark, apparently the stripes last a whole day."

"Let me guess, he tested it out on the green-eyed girl once he found out that it was harmless?"

"You catch on quick," I confirmed as I snickered. "Kilik is a decent swordsman, too. But he can't seem to find the right type of sword he wants to use, so he always makes new styles…" I sighed as I remembered the one he had recently made that had a blade that was curved all the way down in wave-like arcs. Apparently he had based it off of the shape of Bey's bangs. Sabo shook his head with a smile.

"Trust you to find such a unique group of people," he said, amusement dripping from his voice generously. "Only Luffy could outdo you in that respect," he laughed. I shoved him lightly, smiling along.

" _Please_ , Luffy could outdo _anyone_ in that particular field," I agreed. Then I froze, and hit my brother over the head "WAIT A SECOND, YOU SAID THAT BECAUSE I ALREADY AGREED TO BE HIS FIRST MATE, DIDN'T YOU?!" Sabo burst into laughter that just confirmed my suspicions. I tackled him. "YOU LITTLE—!"

My whole crew (minus Raz) swarmed out to see what the sudden noise was, only to see me apparently trying to murder my brother as he cackled and tried to fend me off.

"What does she mean, she agreed to be somebody's first mate?" Kilik asked, brows furrowed. Katie, the most senior member of the crew, shrugged as they all turned to her for an answer.

"If it's important, she'll tell us," Katie assured them. "But she probably didn't intend to run this crew for the rest of her life. She always says she is giving _us_ a chance at our last adventure, she never mentions herself," the observant girl pointed out. "It's not like it's that big of a deal, really. She's giving _us_ our only real chance at our dreams, so it's only fair for us to eventually let her leave to have _her_ big adventure."

"That's true," Lin agreed. "She never told us what _her_ dream is, so maybe she won't be able to reach it until she leaves."

"When you put it that way, it seems a little selfish of us to keep her here," Kilik mused with a little frown.

"But Maven is our captain!" Yalla said forcefully, fists in front of her to show her determination, "she'll always be our captain even if she leaves! So we'll just have to be the best crew ever for our whooooooole lives!"

" _I HAVE THE BEST CREW EVERRRRR!"_ I wailed, making the whole crew flinch and swivel their heads. I was now pinning Sabo down, and they all blushed as they realized I had been listening to their conversation the whole time. Tears of joy were once again running down my face in rivers at the care my crew was showing. Sabo discreetly gave all of them a thumbs up from his spot pinned under me.

I jumped off of Sabo, and my crew quickly caught on to what was happening and fled… except for Yalla and Kilik, who weren't used to my goofiness. Very few things ever got me very affectionate, but my crew had a way of bringing the affection out of me. I tackled the two oblivious rookies to the ground in a tight hug, nearly suffocating the both of them.

"Gah! Maven… losing.. oxygen…" Kilik breathed out, while Yalla giggled. Her ribbon body could have escaped anytime she wanted, but she remained in her normal shape rather than deciding to slide away. I quickly loosened my grip on the boy, making him gasp and flee while he had the chance.

"MARINE SHIP SPOTTED!" Someone on Sabo's ship yelled, making all of us tense and hop away from each other. I immediately went to grab Stormfall from where I had leaned it against a crate, and my other crew mates who used weapons similarly went to grab theirs. Sabo grabbed his pipe that he had leaned next to Stormfall, making me sigh.

"I seriously can't believe you're still using that," I commented with a small smirk. "None of the rest of us do."

Sabo shrugged, grinning back at me even though his body was already tensed in attack mode. " _Someone_ has to hang on to the past. Besides, you never used a pipe. You had Stormfall for most of our childhood," I just shrugged st him in reply, the marine ship finally in easy sight and snapping us out of casual conversation.

Katie had her bow out. It was a white recurve bow that could extend or retract in the middle grip area, allowing her to adjust the size, power, and range of her weapon. I had pitched the idea to Kilik after I had found out that he was a weaponsmith, taking the idea from the retractable staff that the old Geezer had given me all those years before. I turned my head to see the revolutionaries on Sabo's ship start to get ready for battle, and smirked.

"OI!" I yelled back to them, making them snap their heads to me. I could see Sabo giving me a confused look at my side. I grinned widely. "Just sit and stay alert in case we need you. Chances are my crew, Sabo and I will be more than enough, though!" I said easily as I cracked my knuckles. I glanced over at Sabo, who now had his eyebrows raised. I chuckled.

"Trust me," I said, giving him a pat. "I won't turn down help from your men if we need it, but we probably won't. My crew and I raid marine ships all the time, and this will be a good way to test how Yalla and Kilik do in combat. Now look alive, or else Katie might just finish the ship on her own," I nodded to my First Mate, who already had her bow strung, size adjusted, loaded, and aimed. The arrow loaded on the bow didn't so much as tremble even the slightest as she waited for the marine ship to come in range.

"Don't shoot until we know what rank officer that's in charge," I said as I walked up to her, Stormfall in the holster on my back. I wouldn't take it out until I was right about to fight. Katie nodded in understanding as I turned to face the rest of my crew. "Once we know who's leading the ship, I'll tell you guys where I want you," Lin and Raz nodded, already used to the routine. Yalla and Kilik nodded, getting into fighting positions so they could take off at a moment's notice. I smirked. The rest of my crew was relaxed, even if they were alert. The two newcomers would adjust in time.

Sabo had left me to drop his hat down on a crate. I raised an eyebrow, pushing my fedora lower on my head. "That's right. You left before Luffy gave me and Ace our signature hats," I chuckled. "Now all four of us have a special hat."

"I know, and you guys' bounty posters," Sabo replied.

"Yeah, well. I think you're the only one who doesn't fight with your hat on," I teased before my attention was drawn to a woman standing at the bow of the marine ship, arms crossed. "...aww fuck," I cursed, recognizing the woman at the head of the ship. "We might need your men after all," I admitted, frown deepening. Sabo nodded grimly, and I drew Stormfall as my brother readied his pipe.

"The Devil's luck," Sabo griped. "How the hell do you just _run into_ a well known marine Captain like Black Cage Hina?" His tone was accusatory, and I twitched.

"It's not my fault! I've never had great luck to begin with. The moment something good happens, something bad comes right after to knock me back on my ass," I hissed back as the ship finally came within boarding (and therefore speaking) distance. She clearly hadn't been expecting to run into us, since she was lacking the fleet I heard she usually traveled with.

"Captain of the Hopeless Pirates, Usurper Maven," she said out loud, cigarette burning between her lips coated in red lipstick. "Hina visited Marine HQ a few times around ten years ago. Hina remembers seeing you running around as a little brat, how did someone who had so much attention from the Vice Admirals turn into a pirate?" Hina asked me, making my eyes twitch at how she spoke in third person. "And your grandfather really has a horrible sense of humor. I hear he was the one who gave you the nickname 'Usurper,'" she informed me, which made me sigh.

"He isn't famous for his humor," I replied dryly, spinning Stormfall in an easy circle with one hand as Sabo did the same with his pipe next to me. Gina's eyes slid over to my blonde brother.

"A new member?" Her eyes drifted over Yalla and Kilik. "Or member _s._ "

"Nah," I shrugged, "only those two are part of my crew," I nodded to the two former captives. Before gesturing to Sabo with one hand. "This is just a friend that we ran into," I lied smoothly. Sabo grinned and gave a mock bow to the marine.

"A loyal man wouldn't just run and leave his friend to face her enemies alone. I hope you understand," he drawled without letting his smug smile slip off his face.

"What are the chances of you letting us pass without a fight?" I asked. The pink haired woman took her cigarette, putting it out before answering blandly:

"Zero."

"I suspected you'd say that," I groaned, turning my head to my crew. "Sabo and I will handle Hina. Lin, you take care of the lieutenant behind Hina. Katie, Kilik, you handle the grunts. Yalla, make sure nothing they throw or shoot at us hits us. Raz, do whatever the hell you want like usual. And nobody get in the way of me and Sabo."

"Got it, Maven!" My three original members chorused, the two newer ones agreeing a beat behind them.

"You're a good leader," Sabo whispered with a smirk from his spot beside me as we made the first move, leaping towards the captain with our weapons raised.

"Shut up and fight," I replied with a smirk of my own.

—*—*—*—*—*

Yalla liked Maven. The older girl was caring and didn't underestimate Yalla like most people did. Just because she had dark pink hair that she wore up in pigtails with large pretty bows didn't mean that she couldn't defend herself. Though, perhaps it was her age that helped people underestimate her too, Yalla thought. The only reason she hadn't escaped on her own was that the handcuffs the scary scientists used on her had made her feel weak and sleepy.

But Maven knew she was strong. So when the marines started throwing harpoons at the Dying Dream, Yalla leapt high into the air and twisted, throwing out her arms. Ribbons extended from her fingers, wrapping around each of the projectiles. As the girl let gravity carry her back towards the desk, she threw her hands up and sent the harpoons flying away from her new home and into the water around the marine ship. The impacts made the bigger vessel rock, but Yalla knew her crewmates would be fine. Sure enough, she looked up and saw that the sudden shift of the boat they were on had barely even distracted them, and the fight was still going strong.

Maven and her cute blonde brother were fighting really well against the marine lady! She saw her super strong Captain swing her large axe down, making the marine lady dodge and try to catch the freckled teen in her cage powers.

Yalla glanced at the fight whenever she could. She knew the marine lady was an enemy, but she liked her. The way the lady talked was cute, and her devil fruit abilities were similar to Yalla's. Hina's arms could _be_ cages, but they could also _shoot_ cages, just like how Yalla's body could _be_ ribbons and _shoot_ ribbons. And Yalla's ribbons could act like cages too, which Yalla found very funny to realize.

If she had been able to grow up to be an adult, would Yalla have been as strong and pretty as Hina-lady? She hoped so, even if the thought that she wouldn't get to find out made her a little sad. But she'd always be a cute little girl, at least! Yalla could be okay with that. Being a cute little girl was fun.

Another harpoon was fired at her while she was busy catching another one in midair, which made the little girl tear her eyes away from her captain and captain's brother's fight to bend backwards as she fell, letting the harpoon fly harmless under her. Before it could land in the far side of the Dying Dream, however, Yalla wrapped one ribbon-arm around it and tossed both weapons back at the marine ship.

This time, the harpoons landed in the bottom of the ship and made huge holes. Yalla didn't know if that was a good thing or not, but she felt proud of herself. The marines couldn't win without a boat!

—*—*—*—*—*

"Che," I made a sound of annoyance, my left arm trapped to my side in an iron bar. I had managed to lift my right arm in time to avoid Hina's limb from trapping both of my arms to my torso, but it had been a close call. The extra weight didn't slow me down much, however. It was like having a weighted vest on; training. And it wasn't heavy enough to match the weights I used on a daily basis, so I dealt with it relatively easily.

"HURRICANE SLASH!" I called out the name of my relatively new move, spinning my axe in quick circles towards her while jabbing forward, mastering my timing so that every jab forward would send the spear tip of Stormfall's blade towards Hina in a combination of a slash and stab move. She also had to deal with the double blades of the axe swinging towards her and the heavy pole that threatened to knock into her head hard if she didn't dodge.

The attack forced the woman to jump back and bend around my weapon as best as she could. Meanwhile, Sabo aimed at the woman's side with a Haki-coated pipe, which slammed into her and forced the woman to grunt, turning to attack my brother.

I took the opening, aiming a kick at her back, spreading Haki over my limb at the last second when I saw her bend back to try and capture it in a cage of iron. My leg slammed into her, sending her skidding instead of letting my limb pass through her like she had planned.

I didn't plan on using Haki very much before even entering the Grand Line, that would attract too much attention for our crew. Attention that we weren't strong enough to handle yet. Let Hina think it was a fluke, that would work in my favor.

When the ship careened to one side, the lower-ranking soldiers that my crew were steadily taking down yelling "hole in the ship!", I grinned in relief. Our fight with Hina was slow going. We might have been able to wear her down eventually, but it would take a while and tire Sabo and I out.

The three of us paused our battle, looking over to see two of Hina's own harpoons sticking out of the hill at odd angles, letting in water in a flood. I laughed.

"WOO HOO! GO YALLA!" I cheered, cupping my hands around my mouth to shout to my crew: "ABANDON SHIP! SET SAIL AT FULL SPEED ONCE EVERYONE IS ABOARD!"

"Shit," Hina cursed, turning to order the few men on her ship that weren't knocked out yet to load everyone onto their emergency rowboats. Knowing she wouldn't attack us while her crew was in danger, Sabo and I leapt back onto the Dying Dream. My crew had mostly beat us there, Katie and Raz leaping on only a minute after us.

With the ease of practiced teamwork, my crew and I followed Lin and Katie's instructions on preparing the sails, our Navigator calling out directions and our helmsman following them with ease. The revolutionary boat untied themselves from us, and I looked at Sabo.

"Time to go now that we ran into trouble, huh?" I asked sadly, seeing my brother give a regretful nod.

"Sorry, we're needed back at base pretty soon anyway. But it was good to fight next to you again," he said as he smiled widely at me. I just wrapped him in a hug, shoving his top hat back on his head for him as I did.

"Be careful," I whispered to him, tightening my hold. "Be careful, and be smart. You're already changing the world."

Sabo chuckled on my ear as he returned the embrace. "You are too," he replied. "This crew's mere existence will change the world. So you be careful and smart too. You're not allowed to die yet."

"No," I agreed. "And neither are you."

Our hug lasted another few seconds before he left on his ship towards the Grand Line, the Dying Dream speeding away from the wreckage of Hina's ship in a different direction as my brother's.

"Alright guys," I said out loud, turning to face my crew. "We are officially a complete crew. From now on, no matter who joins later, we are the original Six. It's our job to spread the legacy of the Hopeless Pirates. The only thing worse than living alone is dying alone, so…"

"So nobody in our crew will be allowed to do either," my Nakama chorused, smiles on their faces. I returned the smile, nodding in satisfaction.

"Yosh! We have two and a half months before meeting up with my twin brother at Loguetown! So let's head in that direction after the next island. We'll pick up new members if we run into any, but let's take our time and enjoy the peace. Once we go into the Grand Line, there won't be any."

The crew nodded, and Yalla smiled blindingly. "The Grand Line will be fun!"

—*—*—*—*—*

"Captain Hina, they're headed in the direction of Dancetown," one of the soldiers sharing her rowboat reported, lowering his spyglass. "Do we follow?"

"We don't even have a proper ship," the woman pointed out. "There's a marine base near Dancetown, but… no. This will be the only time we don't follow, she's already beat us," Hina leaned back. "That is the only courtesy Hina will grant that girl, as reward for her living this long. She'll be a terrifying enemy until the day her disease finally kills her."

—*—*—*—*—*

"Ribbon Ribbon: Pretty Swing!" Yalla's voice rang out, her arms stretching into ribbons and wrapping tightly around the top of the wooden arch that went over the ship's wheel and served as a sort of crow's nest, considering Junk ships didn't have one like other model boats did. At least, that was what _we_ used the arch for. If we really needed a vantage point, we could just climb to sit on the top of one of the sails. The rods that held the fabric taut were sturdy and easy places to sit.

But Yalla used her powers, more often than not, to use the arch as a swing. Just as her move's name implied, she swung happily back and forth with her ribbon-arms substituting in for the chains on a normal swing, and no seat necessary for the hyper girl.

I smiled as I watched her, sitting down as I did jaw and grip exercises at the same time, closing my eyes to see if I could further multitask and test out my Observation Haki.

Slowly, feelings filtered into my perception. I knew that most people had Observation Haki manifest as sound or sight, either visions or sounds of the people in their range, but for me it was a lot more similar to a sixth sense. I _felt._ I could feel Yalla, a little burst of energy and optimism and hidden strength. I could feel Raz, a bubble of restraint and control and dependability with just a _dash_ of playfulness. Katie was a mass of elegance and determination and confidence. Kilik was a wall of creativity, humor, and trustworthiness. Lin… Lin was a little ball of defiance, carefully contained ferocity, and burning passion. It almost hurt to feel her. While all my crew mates were extremely defined and had strong presences in my Observation, Lin was the one whose aura felt the most _intense._

I took comfort in the feel of all of them. The core of their beings. It was relaxing to know that all of my Nakama were such amazing people.

"Maven! Maven!" Kilik came stumbling up from below deck, where he had set up his forge in one of the deviously unused storerooms. I let my observation fade away, opening my eyes to look up at him.

"Yeah?"

"I made a new sword! Maybe my sword style should be… DISGUISE STYLE!" He pulled out the weapon he had been holding behind his back, making me deadpan at his newest odd weapon. Two months had passed since the incident with Sabo and Hina, and I had had a _lot_ of experience already with Kilik's odd attempts at creating his own unique sword to fit him. There had been the wavy sword, followed closely by the sword whose blade zigzagged at forty-five degree angles. Then there was the Banana sword, inspired by the fruit I was eating one day apparently. The pillow sword, which was really just a large rectangle of metal sharpened on three sides with a hilt attached, inspired by the pillow fight that Yalla had started one day and had somehow even spread to the boy's cabin. But this… this was the dumbest by far.

I was staring at a sword with the blade shaped like a moustache. A classic handlebar moustache that likely looked a lot like the one my father had had, only several feet long, several inches wide, and made of metal.

The black metal had even been sharpened on the edges that would be the "bottom" of the moustache, giving it a shading that made it seem realistic. I just stared at it for a long moment before looking up at Kilik.

"... Disguise style…"

"Yep! Get it, because guys wear fake moustaches when they—"

"I get it! BUT HAVING A MOUSTACHE SWORD WOULD BE THE OPPOSITE OF A DISGUISE! THAT'S COMPLETELY RECOGNIZABLE! AND STUPID!"

"Yalla, Maven hurts my feelings!" Kilik had his arms wrapped around his knees as he pouted in a corner of the ship, a dark cloud hanging over his head. Yalla detached her ribbon arms from her swing position, running over to console him.

"It's okay Kilik! You're silly sword isn't _that_ stupid!"

"KATIE! YALLA AND MAVEN HURT MY FEELINGS!" Kilik fled into the kitchen, where the First Mate was cooking lunch.

"Something else will be hurt— like your _pride and masculinity_ — if you don't shut up," the dangerously dark voice of Raz whipped across the deck towards the weaponsmith, the doctor having poked his head out from below deck go deliver the threat. "I am working on a new combat formula. So unless you rather take Linral's place as my lab rat…"

Kilik was silent.

"That's what I thought," Raz said with a nod, making his way back to the infirmary. I smirked, standing up and putting down the stress balls from my grip exercises. My jaw exercises actually didn't need any equipment, though Raz had made some for me anyway. Namely, a Kilik-doll to go with the Lin-doll that I could chew on like stress balls, and little hinges that I could bite down on that I could adjust the resistance on. I had also taken another of Zoro's tips and started holding weights in my mouth as I did weight training while standing up.

We had reached an island that would be our last stop before Loguetown, but we had pulled into port after sunset and decided not to head into town until morning.

"Just two more weeks," I said to myself, lifting up Stormfall to practice new moves. I needed to up my game; being on the same level as Zoro before he met up with Luffy wouldn't cut it for the Grand Line. Even being on the same level as Zoro at the same time as when the moss-head entered the Grand Line in the manga wouldn't cut it. In the past five months since I had met the swordsman, I had gotten a _lot_ stronger. Constant training and conflict helped me advance at a crazy rate, especially since I already knew about Haki and could incorporate it into my training.

It wasn't hard to figure out why I had been so weak when I first set out. I had adjusted to life at Dawn, become strong enough to get through it easily but not bothering to do anything anything past keeping up with Ace. That was a mistake. I was at a disadvantage since all my battle axe skills were self-taught or learned from stolen books. Once I came to terms with that and focused more on my combat training rather than almost completely my strength training, I started to get a lot stronger.

I was ready for the Grand Line. I'd continue to get stronger, I thought, as I swung Stormfall and managed to make a small cut through a wave outside the ship. But I was ready.

—*—*—*—*—*

_Bonus:_

_Ages and position of all current members of the Hopeless Pirates._

_Maven: Position, Captain. Age: 17_

_Katylan: Position, First Mate. Age: 15 (almost 16)_

_Linral: Position, Navigator. Age: 17_

_Razdall: Position, Doctor. Age: 21_

_Yalla: Position, DF User, Seamstress. Age: 12_

_Kilik: Position, Weaponsmith. Age: 19_

— _*—*—*—*—*_

**You can tell by the length that I'm getting impatient. And yeah, I lied. Forget the OC-only chapter, let's just get straight to Ace. I'm impatient for the Grand Line.**

**BUT BEWARE!**

**Character death will begin once we hit the Grand Line. Not immediately, but soon enough. You have been warned.**

**Phew. I need a rest, see you all next chapter!~**


	13. Chapter 13

**Omake**

_Right after Sabo left, after the Hina incident._

"Can you get the iron off of me any faster?" Maven asked, irritated at the cage still wrapped around her left arm and torso.

"I'm working on it! Shut up for I might cut you by accident," Kilik groused, working at the iron with a special saw, tongue sticking out in concentration.

"It _was_ pretty funny to see you hug your brother with one arm, and the other barely holding him because it was stuck," Katie said mercilessly, smirking from her spot at the helm. I glared at her, but only earned a chuckle.

"I want this iron _offfffff_. Ughhhhh!"

"Ribbon-Ribbon: Pretty Cage!" Yalla shouted, her arms extending and wrapping around a very _unamused_ Raz, who sat there with an eyebrow twitching and both his arms locked against his torso by Yalla's arms. Yalla couldn't detach the ribbons from her body (she could cut them if they were the kind that shot out, but that stung a little), and was basically hugging the doctor from afar. Maven grinned, taking pleasure in the fact that _someone_ was at least sharing her pain

"Good job, Yalla."

"I am reconsidering my previous decision to exempt you from my experiments," that statement got Maven to freeze, just in time for Kilik to finish sawing through the iron.

"You can let go of Raz now, Yalla," the Captain said with a weak chuckle.

**End omake.**

—*—*—*—*—*

Maven's crew had wondered on more than a few occasions if there was anything that their Captain _sucked_ at. Don't get them wrong, they _knew_ she wasn't perfect by _far._ She only had expertise in fighting and strategy, after all. But it seemed like their mostly-fearless leader could at least do everything else on a very basic scale. Drawing? As long as it was only geometric shapes and generally simple, it turned out pretty good. Like their flag. Drawings of _people_ … were pretty abstract… She could cook at least one type of every most basic dish, so nobody complained when it was her turn to make dinner. There was something satisfying about a simple creamy soup, grilled vegetables, and normal roasted meat. She'd make grilled sandwiches now and then too. But Katie had tried to give Maven a cookbook once to learn something more complicated, and… well, what was _supposed_ to be a meat pie turned into, somehow, a normal chunk of grilled meat. Katie still had no idea where the liquid ingredients went. Or the pie crust.

And that's how almost everything that didn't have to do with exercise, fighting, or _planning_ for fighting went. But still, her crew was glad that at least she didn't completely _suck_ at anything.

Or so they thought.

Until Raz asked for her help when Katie got sick at the same time that Kilik needed his venom removed and needed more than just a washcloth over her forehead.

Turned out that, unless she was only tasked with grinding herbs (which was a lot like her cooking, simple and straightforward), she was absolute _shit_ at taking care of people when they were sick. Hurt? Yeah, injuries were fine. She was used to patching up Luffy. But sick?

Maven stared at the bottle of liquid that Raz had handed her, and the tiny measuring cup that came with it.

"So, uh… you said to fill the medicine up halfway, right?"

"No, to the One Teaspoon marker."

"So, all the way…"

" _No._ Maven, I am currently holding a syringe in Kilik's skin. I cannot help you. Fill to the _one teaspoon_ mark."

She tried to hand Katie a cup with the medicine filled all the way up.

" _Maven!"_

"But more is better, right?!"

"No! No it is not!" Raz sighed, and took a _very_ deep breath. "Okay, I never thought I'd say this to you. But get out of my infirmary, Captain, you're raising my heart rate."

"Gah!" Scared for her crew mate and not wanting to make things worse, Maven quickly put down what she was holding and left.

"And send Lin down! At least _she_ can read a measuring cup!"

Yes. Raz chose Lin _over Maven_ to help him take care of Katie.

Maven found herself huddled in the corner of the kitchen munching on her favorite fruit for an hour.

The crew really wished she just had basic skill level in everything besides fighting.

—*—*—*—*—*

"It's not my fault!" I was whining to Yalla, who was sitting next to me patting my back as I nibbled on a Thunder Mango, a special breed of mango that was ripe when the skin was purple and light blue instead of a meld of green, red, or orange. It tasted similar to a normal mango, but the lavender flesh of the fruit tasted a little fresher and reminiscent of a spring rain. It was my favorite fruit. I sniffled. "But the writing was so small, and how was I supposed to remember _one teaspoon_ when there were so many lines with numbers next to them?! And there were _two different measurement types_. Two! And it was a small cup, so it shouldn't have been much more than one teaspoon when it was full… right?"

Yalla just patted her captain's back. Even _she_ knew how to give a sick person the right amount of medicine. It wasn't hard.

Katie was sick, this time is was a pretty bad bacterial infection that the rest of us had almost complete resistance to. Katie, for obvious reasons, did not. Raz has tried telling me how much antibiotic to give her, but… it obviously didn't work out. He chose _Lin_ to help him. Lin. Who was normally banned from the infirmary unless hurt or needing her own check up.

I dragged myself up and threw away the scraps from my Thunder Mango. No use crying over it, I just somehow found the one thing that I was hilariously bad at. Zoro had directions, Usopp had lying, Chopper had hiding his feelings, Luffy had… pretty much everything. Lin was hilariously bad at cooking, and Katie, believe it or not, was really bad at saying anything rude to anyone outside the crew. Raz… actually, I didn't know if he was hilariously bad at anything yet.

But still. That meant I was relatively normal for this world. Well, for the people of this world that I surrounded myself with anyway. I decided to go do something I _could_ do, and check our heading. I grabbed the spare compass, the one Lin didn't carry with her, and checked it before having Yalla help me make some adjustments to the sails so that we were heading straight to Loguetown. We were pretty close by. I smiled when I saw a familiar Jolly Roger in the distance, tied up in the port. I recognized it from the background of a certain bounty poster that I looked at at least once a day.

The skull and crossbones with the hat of fire and two smiley faces, on a red spade. My brother was waiting for me. Ace was here.

I walked over to the trap door, lifting it and kneeling down. "We'll be reaching land in about half an hour!" I called out so that the people in the infirmary would hear me. I heard the door open a moment before Lin's voice called back up;

"Okay! Kilik is almost done, and then Raz can focus on Katie. He says Katie will probably have to stay on board, but everyone else should be good to go!"

"Thank you!" I called back before shutting the trap door and backing off to man the helm. At least I could do _that_ much decently.

—*—*—*—*—*

Raz stayed with Katie on the ship to continue treating her and monitoring her condition. The rest of us went into town to restock and enjoy ourselves before heading off.

Lin and Kilik has started a contest to see who could guess, off the top of their heads, who my brother was. They didn't allow themselves to look at the plethora of pirate ships in the port, and they said that looking at bounty posters was against the "rules" of their contest. I laughed as they threw names at each other, and shot down each one.

"Okay," I said, raising a hand to stop their silly game, my smile wide on my face. "I'm going to go restock on food. Kilik, you go get whatever you need for weapons and materials for the ship, we might need to make repairs once we get into the Grand Line. Who knows what we'll run into. Lin, Raz already gave you a list of medical things to get, so you do that. And Yalla…" the little girl smiled as she looked up after hearing her name. She almost always wore a fitted kimono of some sort, but with short sleeves rather than long.

Seriously, the girl was a classic Lolita character. But unlike most… she was our secret weapon. She flexed her arms at me with a chuckle.

"I'm strong! I can go get fabric and thread for the ship, just in case we need to fix sails or repair your clothes!" She said happily. Her Ribbon-Ribbon powers helped give her a talent with cloth. She could shoot out ribbons and have them match the color and feel of other cloth, instantly binding the two together before cutting off the ribbon she shot out. She said it stung, but it was like getting pinched so it wasn't too bad. I still hoped she didn't have to do too many mends. She just wanted to be helpful so badly sometimes, I hoped she wouldn't hurt herself in the process.

"Oh! Cute boy!" Yalla laughed suddenly, running off. That character quirk of hers never ceased to confuse me, and I reached out to stop her and missed.

"Oi!" I sighed. Yalla was already trying to charm a boy with her adorable looks. She didn't really want anything romantic, it was just that Yalla had a soft spot for anything "cute" and had apparently always wanted a big brother. So… she wanted cute boys to act like her big brother.

It was extremely worrying.

"Hey!" Kilik's shout had me spin away from where I was watching Yalla, seeing someone was attacking Kilik. I growled, Lin already fighting off three others. Unlike most people, Lin was legitimately having trouble. Even though she was holding her own, she wasn't gaining much ground against them.

I felt a presence behind me, instantly reaching for Stormfall. But before I could grab it, the person tackled me to the ground and I had to turn myself over quickly, aiming a blind kick at their torso. The person had their hands on my wrists, and I took the moment that they dodged my kick as an opening. I sat up as much as I could, yanking me arms to the side with all my strength, overwhelming the other person and shoving them off. I stood up quickly, quickly drawing Stormfall and holding it in attack position, grimacing.

"Holy fuck your hands are hot! What are you made of, fi—" I felt my eye twitch as I saw who it was, and put Stormfall back on my back. The asshole was laughing. I glanced away from the jerk, looking at where Lin currently had he rlegs around one guy's neck, her fist jamming into the eye of another guy, and her last hand tugging the last guy's hair to slam his head into one of his buddies. Kilik had his latest "masterpiece" (a sword with two blades like a pair of scissors. It was actually pretty cool this time) blocking the double sword of the guy attacking him. Like Lin, neither party was gaining much ground against the other.

I glanced back at the guy who had attacked me, sighing. "You might want to tell them to stop now."

"Why? It looks like they're having fun."

"Ehh, it looks that way right now, but…"

"RIBBON-RIBBON: PRETTY SNAKES!"

"That's what I was worried about," I sighed as Yalla noticed her friends were fighting. Somehow she had gotten on top of a roof, jumping down with her fingers extending into ribbons to wrap around each attacker and lift them into the air. She moved one hand back, about to slam them down, when I decided to intervene.

"Yalla! It's okay! There's no real danger! Don't kill them!" I knew from experience that the girl was _shit_ at holding back. Even though she hadn't killed anyone yet, the little acrobat has broken more than a few limbs during marine raids. The girl swung her head over to look at me, soft yellow eyes wide in surprise and her dark pink pigtails whipping around with the movement.

"Eh? Maven-Chan?" She asked, tilting her heads before looking back up at the pirates she had caught off guard. "There's really no problem? But everyone was just fighting…"

"My brother has a horrible sense of humor," I deadpanned. I gestured to the guy who had attacked me, who had the audacity to smile at them cheerfully and wave. "This is Ace," I made sure I couldn't be heard by the crowd that had gathered, barely moving my lips. "Come on, let's talk on the ship. Let his crew mates down, Yalla, he was just pranking us."

"Oh! Silly people!" Yalla smiled, letting Ace's crewmates down and slowly letting her ribbon fingers slide back to their normal space and size. She turned to finally look at Ace, lighting up and running over to him, who was understandably nervous about the fiercely protective little girl. Though I didn't know why, I was pretty sure he already ate the Flame-Flame fruit and ribbons were highly flammable, he would win in a second if necessary. But oh well.

"Cute boy! You look almost as cute as Maven-Chan!" Yalla gushed, wasting no time hugging Ace.

"Ooph! Be careful!" He said, carefully pushing her off of him. "You ate a deviled ruit too, right? You're made of ribbons?" He waited for Yalla to nod at him, and he smirked. "Well I ate one too," he held up one hand a safe distance from her, letting it turn into a flickering flame for a moment before turning it back into a hand. "I'm made of fire. So don't surprise me okay? I don't want to burn you on accident."

"Ah! I didn't realize!" Yalla exclaimed, nodding. "Okay. I don't want to catch on fire on accident," she agreed easily. "Lin-Chan! Kilik-Chan! Last one to the ship has to interrupt Raz to tell him that we met Maven's brother!" Not waiting, Yalla instantly took off. Her two older Nakama blanched, horrified by the girl's evil plan.

"WHAT?! NO, DON'T THROW US UNDER THE BUS! YALLA!" They instantly took off after the girl, making me laugh as Ace looked over at me curiously.

"Raz..? Another crewmate of yours?"

"Our mad scientist of a doctor," I confirmed with a smile. "I'm the only one exempt from his experiments, Zeh heh heh. Come on, I wanna see who loses!"

"You have gotten more sadistic since we last met," Ace said slowly with a smirk, nodding to his crew. "Come on guys, we can talk on Maven's ship."

The four guys jogged after us, but waited until we were out of most of the crowd before speaking.

"Didn't know that Usurper Maven was your sister, boss," one of the guys said, sounding pretty surprised.

"Pretty easy to tell now that they're side by side though. They're like genderbent versions of one another," one of the other pirates added, making my brother and I shiver.

"Please, never say that again," Ace said with a grimace.

"Yeah, I rather not imagine myself as a guy," I agreed.

"You think there's somebody who can do that? A devil fruit that lets you change people's gender?" Ace suddenly asked, hand on his chin. I smirked, remembering that there _was_ such a person, in fact.

"Oh, there isn't a doubt in my mind," I said to him. "If we ever met that person, I wonder if we'd look exactly the same, if…"

"Okay, but you'd be the one testing it out," Ace immediately interrupted, pointing at me. "Unless you want everyone to see more than they should," he tugged at his completely unbuttoned, short yellow shirt. "I don't exactly cover my chest."

I scowled at him, sticking out my tongue. "Don't act like you wouldn't be the _first_ one to attack anyone who looked at me wrong," I teased him, switching from my scowl to a smile as the Dying Dream came into view. Ace stood next to me as we watched Kilik and Lin trying to shove each other over to reach the deck first, crossing his arms as he looked over it with a smile. We had docked it right next to Ace's ship, she I noticed the lack of the sailboat we had started off with. He said he'd string it on the back when he got a real ship, but…

"You shipwrecked, didn't you?" I asked, looking at his with a deadpan expression. The sudden blush on his face gave him away as he tensed and glared at me.

"Wha—?! Of course not!"

"You totally shipwrecked," I sighed, rubbing the back of my head. "See what happens when I leave you? You go and get yourself in trouble. Almost every single time."

" _I do not!"_ I raised my eyebrows, as if asking if he seriously believed that. He just grinned and looked away moodily. I chuckled and shook my head in amusement, slapping one hand on his back. I didn't know how much control he had with his solidity, so I made sure to do it with my hand sheathed in Haki. He stumbled forward a step, looking back at me with a scowl.

"Come on, Hotshot," Is aid with a wide smile. "Lin lost, we better get on board so we can see what happens."

"You have really gotten evil," he muttered, shaking his head as he followed me up the landing platform. We reached the deck, realizing his crew hadn't followed and were shifting uncertainly back on the dock. I leaned over the railing, waving them over. "Ace's whole crew is welcome aboard! Don't be shy!"

"Uh, won't your crew be, Uh, surprised..?" One of them asked hesitantly, making me laugh.

"Nah! We're one of the most laidback crews you'll meet, they'll take your presence in stride, you can go get the rest of the crew too, if Ace says it's okay," I looked over at my brother, who shrugged and nodded.

"Laidback, huh? Like brother, like sister I guess," a man said as he sat on the second highest deck at the back of the Dying Dream, legs dangling over the edge. The man pushed himself off, landing next to us. Ace smiled widely, gesturing to the man with one hand.

"Maven, this Masked Deuce. He's my first mate," Ace introduced his first crewmate. I smiled, and held my hand out to shake with the man who wore a thin blue mask around his eyes.

"Hello," I nodded with a smile. "I'm sure you already know, but I'm Maven. _Only_ Maven. It's best if the Marines don't know about me and Ace, so no 'Portgas,' and no 'D,' 'kay?" I received a nod and relaxed my stare at the man, replacing it once again with a large smile. "Awesome. I would introduce you to my first mate—"

"I already met you once, Ace," a _too_ familiar voice came out from behind me, making me turn halfway to see Katie coming up from the trap door, walking over to us. I frowned, but Ace and Masked Deuce were focused on the blonde. Katie smiled at my brother, "It's nice to see you again. And it's nice to meet you, Masked Deuce," Katie reached out to shake his hand.

"Katie," I said softly, making Ace's head whip to me since I only used soft voices when the situation was serious. "What are you doing out of the infirmary?"

Katie turned to look me in the eye, straightening her back to try to close a little bit of the three-inch difference in height between us. My frown deepened. "Raz has done everything he can for me for now, and it wouldn't look good if I didn't come up to greet our guests," she said firmly. I crossed my arms, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh? So putting your life in danger _looks good_ , then?" I said back lowly. "Do I need to ask Yalla to tie you up and get you back in bed?" I sighed and put a hand on her head. "I get it, you want to make a good impression. But don't speed up your death, idiot. Go get some rest, we won't be leaving Ace's crew for a little while anyway."

Katie looked over at Ace and Masked Deuce, who smiled at her gently with a nod. Beaten, Katie sighed.

"Okay, Maven. Raz would'a killed me if I wasn't down soon, anyway," she said reluctantly, heading back down. I rubbed the back of my head, looking over at them with an apologetic smile. I opened my mouth to say something, but Ace beat me to it.

"You got a good crew," he said happily, making me blink before I chuckled.

"Only the damned _best_ ," I agreed, putting my hands on my hips. "Now, I know you met a few of them back when you thought it was a great idea to ambush me, but let me officially introduce you," I said, clearing my throat. "LAST ONE ON DECK HAS TO FLIP A COIN AND EITHER EAT LIN'S COOKING OR SUBMIT AS RAZ'S LAB RAT FOR A DAY!"

My brother and his first mate traded slightly amused and confused glances, and when they looked back up the entire crew was already there, with the exception of Katie. I smiled and clapped my hands.

"Good! Since I didn't see who made it last, there won't be any punishment," I could feel their glares for my dirty trick, but ignored them. I walked over to all of them, gesturing to each one as I reached their name. I went in order of when they joined the crew. "This is Lin, she's our navigator and our best brawler," my praise made Lin smile and straighten up. Ace whistled, eyebrows raised.

" _Best_ brawler? Better than you, Mave?"

I nodded, chuckling. "Unfortunately, yes. And I'm the only one good enough to spar with her, so I've ended up starting a new bruise collection," I said dryly, though I was still smirking. I could see that that statement impressed Ace, who knew how good of a brawler I was from our spars growing up. I moved on. "This is Raz, our Doctor and a master Herbalist. He was able to make an herbal-based injection to speed up the recovery of muscles for twenty-four hours, so that I can use it in emergencies," and _that_ automatically earned our doctor my brother's gratitude and respect. "This is Kilik, our weaponsmith. And I'm sure you remember Yalla, the user of the Ribbon-Ribbon devil fruit and our seamstress," the little girl smiled and waved happily.

"Nice to meet you all," Ace said politely as he tipped his hat towards them. "I'm Maven's brother, Ace. This is my First Mate…" Ace went on to introduce Masked Deuce and the rest of his crew. "We should probably set sail soon," he said when he was done, glancing back at the town. I sighed.

"It's best if we leave in the morning," I said firmly, knowing very well why he wanted to leave as soon as possible. Ace looked at me, eyebrows slightly furrowed as he opened his mouth to argue. "You ambushed us before we could properly resupply our ship," I interrupted before he could say a word. "And the entrance to the Grand Line is notoriously dangerous. It's best if we navigate it broad daylight rather than trying to risk it at night when vision is bad," I stared right in his eye as I said all this, and he slowly caved.

"Fine," He said tensely. Then he realized what time it was and straightened up. "We don't have a chef on our crew. We have a member who does most of our cooking for us, and—"

"And you remembered that I did most of our cooking as kids," I finished for him with a smirk and a good natured sigh. "Well, If it's you I'm feeding, I can't do it alone. Bring over whatever member usually does your cooking, and you better bring over some of your ingredients too. I'm not emptying my whole pantry to feed you," I pointed at him at that last statement, making him raise his hands in mock surrender even as he smiled.

"Okay, okay! I wasn't planning to make you use only your stuff anyway," he assured me with a laugh. He turned to call the member of his crew who could cook as I turned to my crew with a lopsided smile.

"Ace eats as much normal food as I eat fruit," I explained, which made them blanch in horror. I nodded sadly. "Raz Yalla, Kilik. All hands on deck. Er, kitchen," I turned as Ace showed me who did their cooking, and nodded. "Alright. Yalla, Kilik. You go with her and cook in Ace's ship. Our kitchen isn't big enough for us to make food fast enough using it, alone. This would be easier if Katie could help, but oh well. Raz, you and I will cook here on the Dying Dream. Ace," I turned my head to smile at my brother. "Why don't you go get us some booze? Wine for me, you know I don't like hard liquor," I told him, making him raise a brow as he clearly fought a grin and crossed his arms.

"Oh? Ordering me around now, Hag?" My crew froze. Usually the only people who insulted me were Marines or other pirates, and they always ended up beat up before the rest of their buddies. I just narrowed my eyes and replied wickedly;

"Don't forget which one of us is older, Brat!"

"That's why I call you hag, Hag," he replied impishly. Our crews watched in mixed horror and amusement as Ace and I bickered happily. Only Raz was relatively unaffected, and in fact he was the one to end the argument. I sputtered as an apron landed on my head, and turned to see Raz leaning against the kitchen door with one eyebrow raised.

"You said we need to cook fast, so why are you taking so long?" He asked blandly. I laughed, probably confusing Ace's crew with how easily I allowed the attitude. Ace joined me a moment later, turning and jumping off the ship easily as he headed in town to buy (probably steal, actually) some booze for all of us.

Raz and I had been cooking for about twenty minutes when the door opened, and I looked up to see Masked Deuce coming in and sitting himself at the dinner table. Ace must have told him to be casual around me.

"So. You're Ace's twin, biologically?" The man's question made me freeze for a second.

"Can you take over for a minute Raz?" I waited for the doctor to nod before turning and walking over next to my brother's First Mate. I looked into his eyes for a long moment. "Either Ace really trusts you for you to know about that, or you said something that made him react and gave him away," I said softly, keeping my voice down so nobody overheard. "Listen closely. I know he trusts you if you're still his First Mate after finding out. But I hope that being his Nakama has showed you not to judge a person by their parents," I turned and leaned against the table so that we were side by side, keeping my eye on the kitchen door so I might know if anyone came by to eavesdrop. "Yeah. We're blood related," I confirmed. "But I'm not like Ace when it comes to our dad. I never met him. I don't know if he was really a good person or not. That's something you should always determine about a person _yourself_. The World Government will say anything it takes to make the whole world think badly about anyone who gets in their way. If anyone poses a threat to them, the World Government will do whatever it takes to make that person seem demonic or monstrous. So I can't hate him, because I never knew him."

We were silent for a long moment. And I hesitantly added:

"And I can't hate myself. Because who he was doesn't _define me._ The only person who can decide who I am is _me,"_ I stood up straight again and went back to continue helping Raz cook as I let Deuce think about what I had told him.

—*—*—*—*—*

Dinner had been a full-blown party. Raz, Yalla, and Katie (when Raz had finally cleared her to join) didn't drink because of their health reasons, but they all enjoyed the food with the other crew. Me and Lin drank, though we were both careful to watch how much we drank, no need to make our conditions worsen. Ace only drank a little, but just so that he didn't feel like he was leaving me out of the fun. Most of his crew was confused when they saw that most of us didn't drink, but I simply told them that they had personal reasons for it and both crews decided to leave it at that.

Once night fell, I waited until Ace was asleep. And _actually_ asleep, not succumbing to his narcolepsy and falling asleep in his food. In fact, I waited until everyone from both crews were passed out or almost there, and slipped off the Dying Dream.

I knew that Roger hadn't been the devil that the government made him out to be. And even though most people might have been a little bitter about him being the source of the disease that was killing them, I couldn't help but admire that he was able to accomplish so much even while suffering the same thing I was.

So, I went to visit the execution platform. If one of his kids hated him, the man at least deserved the other to pay a little respect. The streets were completely empty, save the occasional drunk or pirate or street thug wandering around. They weren't hard to avoid. Soon enough, I found myself standing at the bottom and looking up towards the top of the platform.

That was where my father was killed. Before ever seeing his children. I carefully stretched out my weak Observation, able to keep my range large enough to make sure that nobody was earshot as long as I spoke quietly. I gently placed one hand on the metal base of the platform, taking in a slow breath.

"Well," I started out, keeping my voice barely above a whisper. "You've made it pretty damn hard for me to live my life, you know that?" I said with a smirk, my words not harsh just rather joking. "I think Luffy is the right person to take over where you left off. And maybe I should thank you. Without this disease, I don't think I would be nearly half as strong as I am now," I admitted. "It was the spark to light my determination, and now it's the fuel that keeps my will strong. And don't worry. I'll keep my idiot brothers alive, every last one of them. Even that angsty brat Ace. So just leave that to me," I stood there for a short moment longer before removing my hand and turning to walk away, keeping up my Observation until I was out of sight of the platform, then slowly reeling it in.

I paused when I reached the boat, my Observation managed to pick up that Ace was awake. It wasn't hard, even with my Observation pulled into a short range. It was easy to sense Ace's aura, he was a raging fire inside and out. Easily excitable, easily dangerous, but also protective like a torch can be when used to wave away predators, and inspiring. But he was also self destructive, constantly burning away at the thing that kept him alive, burning away at himself in his self hatred. Something I had to try my hardest to fix.

I wasn't surprised, then, when I climbed onto the Dying Dream to see Ace waiting for me on top of a crate, with his crew and mine all laying out on blankets and pillows scattered over the deck. He met my gaze, his eyes neither angry nor approving, but cautious and confused.

"You went there, didn't you?" His soft voice cut through the silent air. He didn't need to elaborate on where he meant and we both knew it.

"I did," I confirmed, meeting his gaze evenly and moving a crate so I could sit in front of him.

"Why? He's done nothing for us. You know how just being _related_ to him makes our lives ten times worse than anyone else's. Ten times harder. People hate us before even knowing who we are, the World Government wants us dead simply for existing. He is the reason you have Usur—"

"Funny that you mention that," I interrupted softly. "I just finished thanking him for my disease," I admitted, making Ace gape at me. "Don't get me wrong, I _hate_ that I won't live a full life. I despise it. But the disease itself has helped me become strong, it has helped me accomplish things I probably would never have attempted otherwise. Without it, I'd just be another female fighter capitalizing on speed and flexibility because I would have thought that strength would never be something I could develop as well as a man. But because of this disease, because of what to does to me, I never thought about that," I leaned forward to pin him with my stare. "I never thought about _if_ it was possible. I just knew I had to _make_ it possible. The determination to live longer fueled me. It _still_ fuels me. And I don't think I'd like the person I would be if I had never had this illness to begin with," I ran a hand through my hair as I watched Ace's mouth form a tight line, his hands clasped together and trembling. "And everything else? Ace… everyone hates us before they even know us, that's true. But do you hate me?"

"What?!" He whisper-yelled, shocked by my question and furious that I even asked it. "How the hell can you even _say_ that?! Of course I don't!"

I nodded. "And I don't hate you. I love you, you're my _brother_ , and you are a god damned great person, regardless of whatever our father did. You're strong, and passionate, and protective, and just talking to you and seeing how much you love Luffy and Sabo and how far you'd go to protect us, it's inspiring. It gives me hope— _you_ give me hope," I ran one hand down my face, forcing back tears. "Just seeing your face makes me smile. Makes me feel safe. So who the hell cares about what the government says about us? We're not devils. They see us as a threat because our father was a threat to them, they make us seem like devils because making people hate us will make it easier for them to _catch us._ To _kill us._ We're not humans to them, we're pests," I looked up to meet his gaze again, reaching forward to grab his hand. "But you don't hate me. So stop hating yourself. Thinking of yourself as a demon is the same as calling _me_ a demon," I saw the hurt flash in his eyes, saw his jaw clench. I saw the war happening in his head. "We're the same in a lot of ways, Ace. We share the same blood, the same face, the same parents, the same brothers. And I won't try to get you to stop hating him. I understand why you do, even if I don't share the opinion," I pinged forward and surprised him with a tight hug. "But hating yourself? I won't stop trying to get _that_ to end until it's nothing but history. I don't want to see you destroy yourself like that."

"Maven," He said softly, voice strained as he held me tightly. "I'm not that amazing. You and Luffy look at me like I hung the stars, but I'm not that great of a person. I'm not that _special."_

"But you are," I whispered back. "You were given a chance at a long, spectacular life," that made him stiffen. "So don't waste it. Hating yourself will only make it harder for you to keep going. Harder for you to enjoy life. And I want you to _enjoy it._ Enjoy every second. And when I finally do die," his hold tightened almost suffocatingly, and I had to take a breath before finishing; "when I do finally die, I want you to still be alive. So that you can continue to enjoy life _for me._ Got it?"

Ace was silent for a long moment, but I could hear his harsh breathing in my ear. He hated crying more than almost anything in the world, so I knew he was trying hard to keep his tears back and wouldn't speak until he had himself under control.

"Got it," he replied softly. "I'll try. No promises on my feelings, but I'll try. For you."

"That's all I can ask for."

—*—*—*—*—*

The next morning had us leaving bright and early, and I practiced with Stormfall on deck as we made good time towards the entrance to the Grand Line.

I was soon approached by Kotatsu, the large Cat (lynx?) that was part of Ace's crew. It hadn't taken me long to see that he could understand humans very well, and propped my axe on shoulder as I propped my other hand on my hip. I smiled at the feline.

"Wanna spar?" I asked, earning a nod from the Cat, who crouched into an attack position immediately. I never lost my smile, not moving from my casual stance. Ace saw me from his spot on the railing of his boat, where he could easily talk to me and keep an eye on his crew at the same time.

"Eh? Maven, Kotatsu?" He blinked as he realized what was happening, and immediately adopted a nervous expression. "Eh, Kotatsu! I don't think you should do that!" Ace's call attracted the attention of the other members, Deuce being the first one to walk over to see what was happening.

"Don't worry! I won't hurt him!" I called back, then paused. "Well, not too much! He'll be fine with a couple bruises, right?" Ace groaned, rubbing a hand over his head. Kotatsu apparently thought I was distracted, taking the chance to leap at me.

"That's dirty, Kotatsu!" Someone from Ace's crew yelled, only for a shocked murmur to rise up as I easily dodged and knocked the flat end of Stormfall's blade into Kotatsu's side, sending him flying into the wall of the cabin area.

"It's fine," I replied to whoever had yelled a moment before. "He can probably just tell that he needs to pull out all the stops if he wants to land a claw on me," I stepped to the side as Kotatsu recovered, lunging and swiping at me. I blocked his claws with Stormfall's blade, not even struggling under the force of his strike. "Blunt Hail!" I called, using one of the special attacks I had come up with. I switched my grip so my hand was right under the blade of my axe, the pole flush against my arm as I dove in close and swung the flat sides of the blade in a quick serious of blunt blows in all directions. I made sure to control the amount of strength I used, and when I pulled back Kotatsu was only stumbling. I put Stormfall back in the holster on my back, leaning down to pet him on the head with a smile.

"Gotta be faster than that. But you're pretty strong, keep training," I praised the feline gently, and he decided to lay down and lean into my gentle petting as he recovered from the bruises I gave him.

"She beat Kotatsu so quickly!" One of the guys in Ace's crew said in disbelief. I heard Ace sigh.

"My sister isn't the best at holding back. Poor Kotatsu is going to be sore for a _week_ ," he said sympathetically. I stood up and walked over so I could lean over the side of the Dying Dream towards my brother's crew.

"Ace and I used to always tie when it came to spars back on the island we grew up in. We won and lost spars pretty equally against one another," I told them. "But that was before he was made of fire, and I've also gotten a lot stronger since forming the Hopeless Pirates. Oh yeah! I haven't told you yet, Ace, but I met up with Sabo about two months ago," I laughed. "We ended up having to fight Black Cage Hina, the Marine Captain! It's only thanks to Yalla's Ribbon-Ribbon powers that our ship didn't end up skewered with harpoons!" I kept laughing, and heard more than a few guys from the opposite ship yelling that I shouldn't laugh about such things.

"The current's getting stronger!" Kilik yelled from his spot on the helm, manning it while Katie rested. Lin thundered out of the kitchen, climbing up to the highest platform in the back of the ship to get a good vantage point.

"The red line is in view!" She called out, pulling out a pair of binoculars that Kilik had made for her. "Get in a straight line! The entrance to Reverse Mountain is narrow!" She warmed everyone on both ships. We slowed down, letting the wider ship in front of us. The Dying Dream was more streamline, which would let us enter more easily, so we wanted to let Ace's ship get the first chance though so we could help is anything went wrong.

The day was clear, and we all kept a vigilant eye on our placement in line with the narrow current flowing up the mountain. Having a wheel to steer helped with control, and I knew Ace's ship was similarly steered. I went to help Kilik with the wheel, muscles earring against my skin as I strained to keep it steady against the pull of the current. My eyes were glued to Ace and his ship, Kotatsu had jumped back on before they moved up in front of us. I held by breath for long, tense moment before I saw them safely get on the current and ride straight up the canal. I breathed a sigh of relief, smiling as the metal arches flew over our head. With our beautiful ship, getting straight in the middle of the current was not that difficult. I let go of the wheel, letting Kilik take control again before slowly letting go as well. The current would take care of our steering, it wouldn't slam us into any walls anytime soon.

A cheer rang up across both ships.

—*—*—*—*—*

We were sitting down in front of a familiar old man with what looked like petals growing out of his head. Crocus, he had introduced himself as. Deuce glanced over at me.

"I still can't believe how your whole crew stayed so composed even with a giant whale suddenly appearing in our path," he mused, leaning back in the chair he was in. "You guys just calmly spread orders to maneuver across the side."

I shrugged. "My crew members are the hardest people in the world to intimidate," I said honestly. Crocus was staring at me, likely seeing me and Ace's heavy resemblance to our father. He sat up straighter at my words.

"What makes you so hard to intimidate?" He asked gruffly. I stared back at him, even as Deuce voiced that he would also like to know. I looked over at my Nakama. They met my gaze, and all either nodded or shrugged. I sighed and turned my gaze back to Crocus.

"If I tell you, this secret cannot leave the people gathered here," I warned, forcing steel into my voice. Deuce seemed surprised at my adamance, but Crocus nodded. Ace looked at me, and gave me a lopsided smile in encouragement. I took a slow breath, running a hand through my hair.

"The Hopeless Pirates is something I started to show the world that people who are dying can still accomplish their dreams. Can still shake the world up," I started, making Crocus's eyes widen and gasps could be heard from Ace's crew.

"Dying?" The old man asked tensely, paying rapt attention to me. I nodded.

"Every member of my crew is terminally ill," I told him, causing shock once again to cross through the whole area. "We all have different illnesses. Different time limits put on us," I explained. "But we aren't going to die without a fight. We aren't going to lay down and accept death. We'll rage against it, pursue our dreams until our bodies can't take another breath."

" _Every_ member of your crew, girl?" Crocus asked, even though I could tell he knew my answer. I nodded.

"Even our doctor. Even me," I confirmed. "It's incredibly hard to intimidate someone who stares death in the face every day. Who suffers to live every day. We'll die anyway, so we will die standing unafraid and defiant. No matter what we meet."

"... Maven," I had introduced myself earlier, and now the old man used my name as he stood up and beckoned to me. "May I speak to you in private?" I nodded simply, standing to join him as he led me behind the lighthouse. His stare was heavy.

"I used to be a doctor for a pirate crew a long time ago—"

"Roger's," I said, making his eyebrows rise.

"How did you—?!"

"You've been staring at me and Ace all day," I answered his unfinished question easily, crossing my arms with a halfhearted smirk on my face. "I know we look a lot like our father. It's not hard to see that you saw him in us, it only makes sense that you've approached me and started talking about the pirate crew you used to be on if it was his," I explained myself.

"So you are…" he breathed. "And the boy? Ace? How is it possible..?"

"Twins," I said, knowing he meant how it was possible that there were two of us. "What did you want to talk to me about, then? Now that we've cleared up our identities."

Crocus chuckled, shaking his head. "I can see a little bit of Roger in your personality, too. Right to the point," he said with a shake of his head. "I was his doctor. I was able to stall his disease for three years. If you have Usurper's as well, perhaps—"

"Not necessary," I said softly, making the man blink. "I would love if you could share your knowledge with Raz, our doctor, but you don't have to. I've already broken my father's record. He lived for over three years with his disease, at least as far as I can find. I've already worked my ass off building muscle, something that must have been harder for him to do since he was already a fully developed adult when he was diagnosed. I've survived for sixteen years with it already, I'll manage a bit longer."

Crocus was staring at me unashamedly, eyes wide. "Sixteen…"

I nodded, smiling widely. "I don't think my father's complete will was focused on surviving. That's why he let himself get executed, right? For now, all of my determination is focused on survival," I flexed my arms to make my point. "I'll be alright. I'll die when I'm ready to die, and not a moment sooner."

—*—*—*—*—*

 

 

**Until next chapter~**


	14. Chapter 14

"You were eavesdropping," I said as I looked down at the log post on my wrist. I had bought a few at Loguetown, where they sold them if you knew where to look.

"I was not," Ace said, sticking out his tongue at me. "I was making sure of the safety of my sister."

"I used my Observation, Ace. I know you were eavesdropping on me and Crocus," I replied blandly, sighing as I saw that Ace's log post was finally pointing in a different direction than mine. We had agreed to go separate routes, but once again we had a checkpoint to meet other at. Ace was in a hurry to explore the Grand Line (AKA: accomplish something to separate him from our father) so we decided to meet again, once again in six months, at the island right before the second half of the Grand Line. Sabaody.

Ace noticed the same thing, giving me a lopsided smile. "Well then," he said with a heavy breath, pulling me in for a hug. I returned it without hesitation. "Stay safe. Have fun. Kick ass," that last part made me laugh, and I pulled away to ruffle his hair like I had when we were kids. He squawked, batting me away. "I hate that you're still tall enough to do that!" He exclaimed, looking down the half-inch difference between us. He was still taller, but I was happy that I was still growing. "Aren't girls supposed to be short?"

"Yeah. They're supposed to be big-chested, small-waisted and unable to lift more than five hundred pounds, too," I retorted. "We all know I'm none of those things."

Ace snorted, rolling his eyes and pushing his hat (I had knocked it off with my hair-rustle a minute before) back on his head. "I still can't believe you use a two-thousand pound weight every day," he mused. I shrugged.

"I need a bigger one now. I'll try to get one on an island later," I looked around, taking in that half of our ship was covered in snow from the storm a few minutes earlier while the other half was baking in the newfound heat. Heat which, of course, my brother was immune to. Lucky bastard. I turned my head to look into his eyes. Our eyes. The only thing different between them was that mine had longer lashes and were _ever so slightly_ more rounded. Other than that? Mirror images. I took in the look in his grey orbs, the heat. The fury and protectiveness— the _life_ that burned there. And I smiled.

"I'm gonna miss you, _again_ ," I whispered. "I feel more safe when you're here. Like we're two halves, and I'm always a little restless until you come back to fill in what I'm missing," I admitted. Ace chuckled.

"Ah. I can never seem to fully relax without you, brat," He agreed. After one last stare, Ace finally turned and leapt off of the Dying Dream and back onto his ship with his crew. Following his Log Post, they slowly veered away from us. I watched as they left until I could no longer see them.

"There goes my guiding light," I whispered to myself. "Oh well. I won't lose sight of my priorities. They hang too heavily over my head."

—*—*—*—*—*

A month later, we were on the coast of San Faldo, the Carnival City. It was hard to keep the excitable Yalla from sneaking into the sea train, since the invention had absolutely _captivated_ the young girl. But before I could go into the city on the morning of our second day there, Raz grabbed my arm.

That in and of itself was enough to raise red flags in my head. Raz wasn't much for physical contact, and he always insisted on respect with me in particular. He would never have just grabbed me if he didn't feel like it was necessary to get my attention quickly and quietly. So I glanced out of the corner of my eye to make sure everyone else was already off of the ship before turning to him.

"What is it?" I asked softly. Raz's mouth was in a deep frown, and he nodded his head towards the trap door before leading me down to the infirmary. Only once the door was closed and locked and he was sitting in front of his desk did he speak.

"We need to talk about funeral arrangements," he said bluntly, making me immediately plop my full weight on one of the cots. "It's not an immediate necessity, but after Kilik and Yalla got injured after our last fight with bounty hunters? I decided to take a full physical of everyone again."

I nodded. He had been doing check ups to keep an eye on our symptoms, but full physicals weren't something we had time for very often. "I remember, you gave me mine a few days ago."

"Yes, well," Raz combed through his purple hair with his fingers, looking worried. Worry was not a normal state for him. "Maven, Katie and Lin are getting worse by the day. We knew this would happen, it's the one thing we all share as members of this crew. Kilik isn't getting any better, his body is producing venom at faster rates as the days go on. You, me, and Yalla are the only ones whose diseases are relatively stagnant for the moment. And we're on the sea. We need actual plans in place for what happens once one of us dies."

I clenched my eyes shut for a moment, taking a steadying breath. I couldn't put this off. As he crew's Captain, this was my job. I had to make the big decisions, nobody else.

"I don't want to do anything that takes place while we're traveling," I said softly, leaning forward onto my knees. "No burials by fire on the sea. That seems too… too temporary. You all deserve something more permanent. We've dealt with nothing but temporary things our whole lives, fleeting things. I want something long lasting for all of you," I admitted to him. "I want to find an uninhabited island," I looked into his eyes. "It will be the first, and likely the last, island we ever claim. But I want an island just for _us._ Just for our crew. And we can all be buried there, together."

Raz sighed, smiling at me. It was such a rare sight that I drank it in. It was a soft thing, a small tilt of the lips and rare emotion in the eyes. But it was genuine. "Then let's find one, Captain."

—*—*—*—*—*

I went into town after that, relying on the bright colors and parties to lift my spirits from the gloomy discussion. Carnival town would be a good place to unwind, I'd have to get an eternal post for it. Our crew could use some parties every now and then.

The bright flashes of purple and red and yellows and the songs and laughter in the air filled my mind, drowning out everything else. Gradually, I felt myself relax. I found myself steered towards a large outdoor stage, where an announcer was swinging out his arms as he spoke into a standing microphone.

"Ladies and Gentleman! Enjoy the Grand Line's Performing Creatures Troupe! Next one up is the lovely Synalla, the graceful Snakeneck!" The gaudy man backed off, relaxed by a tall woman with a neck at least several feet long. I could feel my eyes blow open wide at that alone. She had long black hair that went down the full length of her long neck in perfect zigzags. Her eyes were shaped a lot like Luffy's, and were a striking purple. I didn't know if those were contacts or not, but I _liked it._

The dancer brought her arms over her head, tilting her head up despite her already tall neck, giving us a perfect view of the bottom of her chin. She held out one long leg in front of her, causing her shiny blue dress to slide a bit up her thigh. Then she _moved._

I watched, entranced, as the woman spun and leapt and kicked. Every away of her hips and reach of her arms was perfectly executed, nearly hypnotizing. Somewhere along the way, the woman caught me staring and locked eyes with me during the last of her dance. When she threw her arms wide in a final pose, I just stood there for a minute, soaking in the last of the emotion in the air before turning to leave.

I was stopped a few minutes later by the feeling of a presence directly behind me. I turned my head to assess the threat, only to blink as I was faced by the very woman I had just seen perform. She seemed to glide over to me, laying an arm easily across my shoulders as if we had known each other for years. I raised an eyebrow at her, confused but interested in what the woman had approached me for.

"Did you enjoy the dance earlier, darling?" She asked in a smooth voice, smirk leveled my way. I smiled up at her.

"I did. You are a very good dancer," I admitted.

"Didn't you ever learn to dance?" The woman asked, seeing the wistfulness that had probably been in my eyes. I chuckled and shook my head. The woman pulled away a bit, clearly surprised. "But most women learn to dance! Or they at least teach themselves! It is the best way to get to know the limits and working of your body!"

"Believe me," I said with a laugh. "I have a firm handle on my limits. I've spent all my life training in fighting," I jabbed a thumb to indicate Stormfall, where it was placed over my back. The woman just seemed to notice the weapon and how close her arm was to it, drawing her arm completely off my shoulder. I snickered.

"Fighting?" The woman asked, eyes wide. "Why would you spend your whole life learning _that?_ It's important to defend yourself, yes, but what about your passion? There has to be something you're passionate about!"

"There is," I said with a nod, making the woman dip her head to she was closer to my height, eyes wide in interest. I smirked. "I'm very passionate about fighting."

The woman groaned, disappointed. "I'll enlighten you to the joys of dancing. Come, this is the Dance Festival! There is bound to be a performer that will inspire you even if I clearly didn't do a good enough job of it!" Synalla immediately started to herd me down the road, leaving me bemused. But I followed, until the long necked woman finally stopped with a smile.

"Here!" She said, waving an arm to indicate a stage set up for acrobatics. "I don't know this performer, I wonder if they're new. Whoever she is, she's spectacular!" Synalla seemed genuinely impressed, which made me give in and slide my eyes up to watch the acrobat.

My jaw dropped and my eye twitched almost immediately. That was—!

A very familiar little girl with dark pink pigtails was dancing on the tightrope as if it was a normal floor, easily gliding and jumping over it in graceful spins that I occasionally saw her practice across the sails of the Dying Dream.

"Ribbon-Ribbon!" She called out, her arms extending into ribbons to grab a trapeze and pull herself on it. She flipped over it so much that I feared she would get herself tangled, but she never showed a single issue. I didn't even realize that Synalla was no longer at my side. I just watched Yalla's little body easily navigate the air and the different equipment on the stage until she took her bow.

"Yalla!" I yelled, getting her attention. She smiled at waved down at me. I smiled back, shaking my head in exasperation. "Don't get lost!"

"I won't, Maven-Chan!" She called back before disappearing backstage. I figured she must have shown up on her own, lured by the nostalgia of the acrobatics that she used to do growing up. I calmly walked around the back to pick her up, only to freeze in horror.

"MAVEN-CHAN! HELP!" Yalla was in the hands of none other than the snakeneck woman, Synalla. The dancer whirled her head around to see me, eyes wide in her face as she held Yalla tightly in her arms, handcuffs around my Nakama's wrists that made my blood run cold. It had to have been Seastone, Yalla would have already escaped if it had been made of any other material.

She was helpless.

"I'm coming!" I quickly took Stormfall off my back, storming towards the dancer, who stepped back from my swing with ease.

"Is she your friend?" Synalla asked, glancing down at Yalla before returning her gaze to me. "Sorry, but I need her!" Without another word the dancer took off. I followed as fast as I could, but was reminded once again about my weakness when it came to speed. The much more agile dancer was easily able to outrun me, and I soon lost her in the curving streets of the party town.

I instantly called up my Observation, spreading it out as far as I possibly could. A familiar feeling of energy slammed into my radar; Yalla. Another familiar feeling showed up much closer, though. This one was a living mass of creativity and humor. I ran towards it first, grabbing the arm of a very surprised Kilik from where he had been haggling for metal ores.

"Maven?! What—?"

"Yalla was kidnapped! Have you unlocked Observation yet?"

"Eh? A little bit, but—"

" _Spread it now and run with me!"_ The guy had never heard me speak so forcefully, and instantly began running at my side, allowing me to let go of him. I could feel the blip of Yalla's aura slowly getting further away. I grit my teeth in frustration and desperation. Yalla!

—*—*—*—*—*

The long necked woman shoved away her guilt. That tall freckled woman had been nice, and so much more interesting than most of the tourists that came through that town. It wasn't often that she saw a female carry a giant battle axe on her back, after all. Synalla had thought that maybe the wavy haired girl had been attracted to her— Synalla would be lying if she said the other girl wasn't attractive, too. Something fiery and strong was in that girl's eyes and captivated the dancer— but upon approach Synalla found herself rather disappointed. Not with the girl who was apparently named Maven, if Synalla's captive was able to be trusted.

No, Maven was fine. It was the fact that the girl's smile had been so completely innocent, her gaze never once suggesting attraction. Either she was straight, or legitimately didn't think about romance much. So yeah, Synalla had been a bit disappointed.

At least, until she stopped by that acrobatics show. Yalla was the best acrobat she had ever seen, and she had a devil fruit!

"Why did you kidnap me?!" Yalla was yelling, having flashbacks to the last time she was kidnapped and panicking. Synalla had no idea that she was nearly causing the poor girl to have a panic attack. Yalla didn't like remembering anything related to the captivity she had went through those few months ago. She just escaped! Maven saved her, Why was she kidnapped again?! The girl couldn't understand it.

"You'll be okay," Synalla said absently, slowing down as she lost track of the freckled woman chasing after the kid. "My Troupe, my family, needs you," she said as she pushed aside the curtain that led to the backstage area of the stage Synalla had been dancing at before. "You'll make the perfect person to replace me as this troupe's head performer," the longneck was still saying, despite Yalla having gone silent and no longer struggling. "I don't have—"

"The Performing Creatures Troupe," a strong, familiar voice suddenly interrupted from behind them. Synalla whipped around, eyes wide in shock at the familiar head of wild black hair that she saw there, the owner standing tall next to a man with tousled brown hair and an odd sword that was shaped like a bone. "The performing group that only includes rare races and devil fruit users," Maven locked eyes with Synalla. The taller woman couldn't look away. "Give us back our Nakama!"

Synalla gritted her teeth, slamming her hand into the girl's neck to knock her out, softly putting her down on the ground before turning to her new enemies. The snakeneck reached behind her, pulling out two bladed Tessen, or fighting fans topped with iron spikes in the ribbing. Each spike peeked from the top of the wan in a wicked edge, showing that they were good as both blunt weapons and bladed weapons.

Maven readied Stormfall; her axe was similarly both blunt and sharp. Kilik stood ready next to her, holding his bone shaped sword in attack position.

"Pirate style!" The man called, nearly making Synalla snicker. A bone, like in the Jolly Roger, as "pirate style" sword fighting? Maven had some odd friends.

Synalla saw Maven run at her, easily twisting to the side. The tall pirate captain was strong, but Synalla was a dancer. She was fleet footed and agile, Maven would have to catch her before she could land a hit on the snakeneck.

But Synalla?" The woman dove forward, one of her tessen colliding with the blade of Maven's battle axe as the stronger woman barely brought it up to block in time. The man rushed forward, clearly meaning to make up for where his companion lacked in speed.

Despite the odd shape, the man was surprisingly good with his sword. Synalla had to move one arm as rapidly as it could go to block every strike with the steel spokes of her fan, swinging up one leg to try to kick the man away. Her strong calves powered her kick, sending him flying back when her foot met his torso. Synalla whipped back to Maven, who she had been avoiding the massive strikes of.

Synalla twisted around Maven's movements, ducking and bending under her arms and swaying around every stroke. Maven couldn't hit her, the dancer moved too fluidly. Meanwhile, Synalla easily squeezed past every defense Maven had, her agile body slipping quickly in and out of striking distance as if she was waltzing, landing crushing _pound_ after crushing _pound_ with one of her iron-reinforced weapons. Her other landed _slash_ after slash, throwing blood into the air like confetti.

But Maven didn't stop. She barely even hissed in pain, never slowing her barrage.

"Blunt… Hail!" Synalla was caught off guard as Maven's hand slid down her large weapon with speed that the snakeneck could barely follow, and leapt back at the woman began a blurred barrage of blows with the flat side of her axe's blade. Synalla raised both tessen to block it, but the blows came from every direction. One finally hit her on her overly large target of a neck, throwing the lightweight woman to the side, where she was caught by the brown haired man, surprisingly sharp bone-shaped blade held at her long neck.

"Why did you take Yalla?!" He yelled, protective of the girl who had been kidnapped with him once before.

"Search her pockets for the key," Maven ordered sharply, forcing herself to stand straight despite the pain that the plethora of wounds on her body was giving her.

"I'm… Sorry…" the soft voice came from behind them, making all three adults turn their heads to look at the tiny form of Yalla as the acrobat forced herself to sit up. The seastone was obviously still draining her powers quite a bit, making it hard for the girl to even speak properly since she had no resistance to the material. "You're like is, aren't you? You don't have much time," the dancer froze, eyes wide. "I'm sorry, but I can't be your replacement. I'm dying, too."

Synalla, no longer caring about the blade at her throat, dropped to her knees. If Kilik didn't quite pull away fast enough to prevent the trickle of blood that ran down her skin, nobody mentioned it.

"So it was hopeless? It was hopeless his whole time..?"

Maven picked the key out of the dancer's dress, walking over to unlock Yalla as the snakeneck looked down at her hands in despair.

A small hand touched Synalla's knees, forcing the woman to look up into soft yellow eyes. The little girl smiled at the older woman.

"It's okay," Yalla said. "We're all hopeless. Maven-Chan, Kilik-chan, and the others too. Being hopeless isn't so bad," she gave her kidnapper a large smile. "You're not a bad person at all! You should join us!"

"Wha— join pirates?!" The dancer asked, shocked. She looked up at the girl with the long black hair, whose weapon was on her back. Maven's arms were crossed and showing off whatever muscle there was on them. "There's no way your captain would accept me, not after I—"

"Yalla forgives you, so it's fine," Maven's relaxed voice caught the dancer off guard. "People do crazy things when they're desperate and dying. Just look at me, I started a pirate crew of terminally ill members," the tall woman knelt by her Nakama and the snakeneck, holding out her hand.

"All you need is a dream that you're willing to chase until you die."

Synalla felt tears well in her eyes. "I… I want to see the New World! I want to see the New World, and find other Snakenecks, or free snakeneck slaves. That's my dream!"

"Welcome aboard then, Synalla."

—*—*—*—*—*

Synalla was brought to the Dying Dream, where we all gathered after sunset. I probably shouldn't have let her join so easily, but I knew she wasn't a bad person. She had been misguided, but not bad. She'd be better off with us.

"A log post maker?" The long necked woman asked, tilting her head. "Ah, yes. I know one," she admitted. "But why?"

I hummed, locking my hands behind my head and leaning back. "Consider it a secret project I'm working on," I replied, making the rest of the crew sigh in exasperation. That meant they wouldn't get an answer either, and they knew it. Synalla chuckled, quickly getting used to my antics as she stood up.

"I'll bring him then. He's a traveller and won't be in town very long. As long as you promise to drop him off at an inhabited island once you are done with whatever the project is, I'm sure it will be fine."

"Thanks!"

An hour later, we were off looking for inhabited islands. We veered off our original course, using the eternal posts that the log maker had on him to explore more open sea until our normal Log Post locked onto a magnetic field that he didn't recognize the island it was pointing towards.

That routine went on for three weeks. We pulled up to the latest uninhabited and likely unknown island we had managed to find, both my arms covered in bandages from a scuffle with a rival pirate crew the day before. The promise of dry land and rest drove us, and we wasted no time getting off.

But once we took in the actual island, we all stopped. The entire thing wasn't very big, maybe a mile long in every direction. But it was completely covered in poppies and pink, blue, and purple hydrangeas. Every now and then, an olive tree rose up from the ground. But most of it was a virtually undisturbed meadow.

I told my crew to wait for me as I explored the slightly hilly island, walking over the meadows and careful not to step on the many flourishing flowers. When I came to the first olive tree, I carefully laid my hand on the bark before pulling back. Black roses were sprouting from around the roots, small things that would one day grow into large bushes of the flower. I took my time going back to my crew and the log post maker, looking over each of them slowly.

I took a deep breath, turning to the log maker with steel in my eyes.

"Here," I said sternly. "Make two eternal posts for this island, please!"

"Maven, don't you think it's about time you tell us why we've been traveling around islands without even a village?" Katie asked, leaning against the side of the Dying Dream with a soft frown on her face. Lin, who had even more bandages on than I did, nodded rapidly.

"Yeah! Is this for Raz? It's covered in plants, but aren't they normal?"

I shook my head, pushing my fedora lower on my head with one hand.

"This island is officially named Hopeless Island!" I yelled, startling my crew.

"Red poppies stand for peace, sleep, death, and remembrance. They can also be promises of resurrection or eternal rest, depending on how they are depicted. Blue hydrangea are flowers for apology, pink is for gratitude and deep honest emotion, while purple is for deep understanding," Raz spoke up easily, showing that his profound knowledge for herbs also included knowledge of the language of flowers. He walked up to stand next to me, and turned to face everyone who was looking at us.

"Yalla, could you make a big flag of our Jolly Roger? Kilik, put it on a large flagpole when it's done. This is going to be our burial ground," I told them bluntly, glancing over my shoulder at the field of flowers. "We will always be together, here. A promise of the permanence we have been denied while living. A graveyard only for Hopeless Pirates. Forever. The place… the only place where we will never be separated."

—*—*—*—*—*

We dropped the log post maker off at an island commonly used for vacations a week later. He decided to make not just two, but enough eternal log posts for all seven members of the Hopeless Pirates. We kept the small, portable version in our pockets or— in Synalla and Yalla's case, as a necklace— and used the extra, normal sized version the man had gifted us as a permanent fixture on the Dying Dream's steering wheel. Kilik had it bolted down safely onto the surface, an easy feat since the wheel was horizontal like a table rather than upright like in most ships. Now, no matter where we were, we had the means to get back to our final island.

—*—*—*—*—*

"Well, if the sailors and townspeople we've encountered are right, we really shouldn't land there," I said lazily as I laid down on the deck of the Dying Dream. I was being as lazy as I dared, lifting a mere seven hundred pound weight (light as a feather for me already) with both hands over my chest. Kilik had put cushions on the handles so that I could use the cushions like a stress ball, exercising my arms and my grip at the same time.

"Since when do you care about what we _should_ do?" Lin asked dryly from where she was laying down next to me, the both of us deciding to just enjoy the pleasant weather while it lasted. "Raz wants to study the plants in the Grand Line, right? We're in the Grand Line. There's a group of islands that are huge carnivorous plants with unknown flora all over it," the brawler looked over to me with a bland look in her green eyes. "There's no way we _aren't_ going there, is there?"

"Nobody who lands there ever escapes!" Synalla was seething, trying to convince us to choose a new route. She was still new, she'd learn. None of us responded to her. "And why are you all acting as if Lin having glowing hair is normal?!"

Yes, Lin's normally grey or silver hair was glowing bright pink, as in _actually giving off light_.

"It _is_ normal," all of us chorused at the long necked girl, making her head twitch.

"It's my fault for going into the infirmary to ask for a bandaid," Lin said blandly, already used to the antics of our doctor, though no less peeved by it as time went on. I could tell that she was just glad that her hair was only glowing, and there were no more physical effects this time. She rather _liked_ being able to move her limbs freely, after all. It was necessary for a brawler, and I knew she felt trapped and defenseless whenever she was even partially paralyzed by Raz.

Synalla just gaped at the girl, and I sighed.

"You've traveled with us for two weeks. Raz was focused on helping me find a good place to call Hopeless Island, so she was uncharacteristically somber. Now that our important little project is over, he's back to his normal self," I stated easily. "You should get used to it. You adapted to me using huge weights pretty easily, and the way Lin attacks like a rabid animal or how Katie is surprising lethal despite her innocent rich girl appearance. You didn't even blink when Kilik made a sword shaped like an oar, or when Yalla decided to walk on her hands on top of our sails."

"Yes, but I thought that there should at least be _one_ normal person in the crew!" The dancer said in exasperation. I stopped mid-rep and lifted my head to give her the most deadpan expression I could muster.

"We're all terminally ill _pirates_ traveling the _Grand Line_ ," I said slowly. "What makes you think _anyone_ who steps foot on this boat for more than a few minutes is _normal?"_

"Okay, fair point. But still—"

"LAND— err, PLANT SPOTTED!" Yalla cried from her spot on top of our largest sail, her legs cheerfully swinging from where she sat on the highest ridge of it.

We were approaching the Boin Archipelago. I was fairly sure we wouldn't land on the same island-plant that Usopp had landed on during the anime's timeskip (would that still happen? I wasn't sure, it depended on what I'd be able to do. I'd have to face that when the time came), but it would still be the perfect place for Raz to start carrying out his dream.

He had studied the plant life on the islands we had already landed on, and made some fun discoveries. But none of them had given him the breakthroughs he wanted, though he did have a much larger amount of medicines for a bunch of minor or mild ailments. I knew he was saving them with Katie in mind.

I put the weight I was holding to the side, standing up. Raz, in a fit of uncharacteristic anticipation, had brought up a table so he could mix some simple herbal remedies on deck. He carefully set down what he was working on, and stood up. I could see that he was trying very hard to hold in his childish excitement, which made a knot form in my chest.

What would Raz have been like without his disease? Without needing to stay composed to help extend his life? He might have been funny and energetic and wacky, more like a kid studying their obsession than the serious prankster-doctor that I knew. And I felt my heart ache. How often did Raz push down his happiness out of consideration for his health?

That was painful just thinking about.

Carefully, Katie steered the ship towards the giant plant. Looking at her, I encountered another huge worry of mine. She was still trembling, having gotten sick yet again just a few days earlier, and still recovering from the remnants of the illness she had caught.

She was getting sick more and more often as the days went on. She ignored it, since she had also earned quite a name for herself. We all had. During our almost two months in the Grand Line, we had already made an impact. Ace's bounty was already soaring up, though I knew it was likely more due to his heritage than anything else. My bounty had only risen to thirty-five million, which meant that nobody had found out about the relationship between me and Ace yet. Katie was very pleased about the name she had managed to make for herself as Dark Nymph Katylan.

People spread rumors about her being an enchantress that slit the necks of her crew's enemies in the middle of the night, which made me and the whole crew laugh when we heard it. We also heard tales about her bow being so strong that it could level marine ships with one arrow. That wasn't true either, but it made Katie burst with pride. That, along with her now thirty-million belly bounty.

I knew she had dreamed of being so famous when she was little. That she had dreamed of sailing the sea like we were doing right then. And I wondered if her getting more sick wasn't because her determination was fading now that she had started to achieve her dream.

I hoped not. It wasn't time for her to die yet.

We didn't all land on the giant plant, not wanting our ship to get destroyed by the thing. Instead, we took the rowboat (we replaced the one I had lost in East Blue with a bigger model) and only me, Raz, Lin, and Synalla got on. Katie still needed to rest a bit to recover from the last of the illness she had most recently contracted, Kilik was busy working on a new sword, and I wanted Yalla to stay behind to act as their defense just in case. The girl was already known as one of the three "monsters" of our crew, right there with me and Lin.

Raz wasn't completely left out, the whole crew referred to him as our Poison Wizard. He wasn't much of a combatant physically, but armed with his different herbal concoctions and a little help from Yalla, and he could take down one or two Marine ships all on his own.

I led the way off the rowboat, leaving it tied up even though I didn't expect it to still be there when we left. Almost immediately, I had to take off after Raz to keep him from getting lost. He was already taking samples and exploring the wildlife on the island of the Archipelago that we had landed on.

That was when a carnivorous plant made its first attack, a large trumpet-mouthed plant leaping towards us. I let Synalla handle it, the long necked woman easily slicing it to ribbons…

Only to get reprimanded by Raz for not leaving any of it in tact for his research. I sighed, resigning myself to collecting plant saliva and root samples for my crazy doctor.

I really loved my crew.

— ***—*—*—*—***

 

 

**Until next chapter!~**


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day?! Yes, to make up for my two month absence even though the chapters up to 18 had already been finished before I stopped updating this on Archive X.X DON’T WORRY! I SHALL CATCH ALL OF YOU UP TO FANFICTION.NET!

"Synalla!" I yelled, heaving Stormfall through one thick vine of a carnivorous plant. We had been in the Boin Archipelago for a week. All of us found something to do, though we always went back to the Dying Dream at night to rest. For me and Synalla, and Lin, the treacherous land was a great place to train. For Raz, it was a haven of new knowledge.

"Ah!" The snakeneck replied, jumping up and kicking off of a tree, tessen held out and scissoring through the air to rip apart the various giant insects that had been trying to creep up behind me "Linral!" Synalla called out to the brawler, who nodded and ran towards me. Quickly, I bent over and allowed the green eyed girl to use my back as a springboard so that she could sail into the air, grabbing hold of a vine dangling over us and using her core muscles to heave her legs up to deliver a kick that audibly _crunched_ the face of the trumpet plant inwards, making it land in a motionless heap on the ground.

The three of us worked on our teamwork as Raz went around collecting the small, fast-growing seeds that a peculiar man (Heracles, he wouldn't let us forget his name) called Pop Greens.

Said beetle-masked man was droning on about "training" and other things to Raz, who was too busy studying the plants to bother listening. Normally, Heracles had told us, going so deep into the Archipelago would be deadly. At first, he had warned us against going in very far at all, especially on Greenstone, which was Raz's favorite of the "islands," because of the diversity of flora he could study and experiment with.

The odd man had quickly realized that us Hopeless Pirates were not easily taken down, however, and actually _thrived_ on the challenge the carnivorous plants provided. Plus the abnormally large insects that roamed around.

I twitched as my Observation (I was exercising it quite a bit lately, and I was making leaps and bounds in progression!) tipped me off to another new enemy. Teamwork really came in handy in such a dangerous jungle. "Humandrakes!" I warned everyone to the tiny, human-shaped plants that surrounded us to try and mob us down. The tiny little plants had an aura, they felt like little blobs of aggressive and hyper energy, like toddlers throwing a tantrum. If that tantrum could potentially murder you, anyway.

"I got it!" Synalla offered, using a Pop Green that she had grown quite fond of to increase the size of her Tessen. Now with giant weapons, the woman soared through the crowd of tiny plant-people and chopped them down like butter, the open fans at her side making her look like a butterfly. A deadly, iron-spiked butterfly. When her tessen returned to normal, the girl rolled her shoulders in discomfort.

"Gah! They're so heavy when they're that big!"

I snorted as I chopped down a giant Venus human-trap (it was far too big to be a _fly_ trap) with a swing of my axe, and thrust through it to nail the head of another flytrap-like plant with Stormfall's spear tip.

"Here!" Raz called back, tossing a small drawstring bag at me. I plucked it out of the air, tying it to the collection that was growing on my dagger belt, the one from Luffy all those years ago that Nami had almost stolen back in East Blue. Ace's earrings hung from my earlobes, so it was as if I was fighting with both of them protecting me. Stormfall was from Gramps, so it felt like even the geezer was protecting me, the only one I didn't have anything from was Sabo.

I'd have to fix that next time we met, even if I had to steal from him.

"GIANT MILLIPEDE!" Lin called out in warning, riding the carnivore's head as she tried to get a handle on it to bring it down. The insect was too large for our brawler though, so I leapt forward to cleave it in half with a roar of;

"LIGHTNING SLICE!" The new move was basically a normal overhand chop with Stormfall, but I put my _entire_ strength behind it to add power and speed, plus a coating of Haki over the whole blade. So far, it could cut anything. I hadn't tried my luck against metal yet, but I had high hopes.

The attack sailed outward from my axe, making me gape. That was the largest flying slice I had ever been able to do! I flew through the millipede and sliced almost straight through the thick tree behind it. Pretty good fortune, since that tree had just come to life and tried to pick Lin up, but my slice killed it.

"WOOHOO!" I yelled, pumping my fist as I jumped up. "My Observation is increasing and I'm even doing better with my Axe techniques! This island is the _best!"_

"I know!" Lin agreed, ecstatic as she hopped down from the dead centipede's head and walked over to me, energy strumming through all of her muscles visibly. "And some of these vines and strangulating plants are fucking _amazing_ training for me, I've even managed to spread Armament over my whole arm!" The short woman had just unlocked Armament a month earlier, but had been struggling to get it to go past her knuckles. We shared a large grin at her accomplishment.

—*—*—*—*—*

Hopeless Island's nickname in our crew became "the island of reunion," for multiple reasons. The first being that after two weeks at the Boin islands, we hit harsh weather as we were leaving the Archipelago. The very light Yalla had almost fallen overboard with the equally-light Katie, which had made me jump over the side of the Dying Dream, grab the back of the their shirts and throw them back on board, and then promptly fall into the ocean.

As I was struggling to stay afloat with the massive weight of Stormfall on my back and one hand trying to keep my fedora on my head, I yelled up to them; "THREE MONTHS, HOPELESS ISLAND!"

Raz and Katie heard me from where they were looking at me from the ship, and I saw them nod before a wave washed over my head and sent me tumbling through the harsh ocean.

I had enough sense to put the edge of my fedora in my mouth, clutching it tightly and leaving my hands free at the same time. Luckily, my eternal post to Hopeless Island was still safety attached to my dagger belt. After making sure of that, I switched my hands to fumble for the only pouch of Pop Greens that was still tied there.

Just before I ran out of air, I squeezed a Pop Green from the bag into the water. The banana boat popped up, shifting bringing my to the surface as I was caught in the "deck" of the boat. As soon as we surfaced, I gulped in air greedily, taking a long moment to just sprawl out on the damp surface of the banana boat.

Eventually I had to get up, though. Taking a glance around, I confirmed my suspicions. The Dying Dream was nowhere in sight. And I didn't have the seeds for the fan-grass, which Raz had only gotten to go with the banana boats. But, that wasn't much of an issue for me.

Because of Stormfall, I was the only member of our crew who didn't _need_ the fan grass seeds for the pouch of Banana Boat pop greens that we now all carried for emergencies. Taking my trusty weapon out of its holster, I turned it and sighed.

"This is horribly lacking dignity," I grumbled to myself as I sheathed the blade in Haki to prevent it from rusting or getting damaged in the ocean any other way. "But, when it comes to survival," I put Stormfall into the water like an oar, switching sides periodically to paddle. My normal Log Post was broken, meaning I had no choice but to continue to paddle in the notoriously dangerous-as-hell waters of the Grand Line.

Fantastic. I found myself remembering what I had told Sabo months earlier about my luck, and how bad things always followed good things. I couldn't help but grumble about how I hated being so right.

On the upside? Paddling through heavily wavy seas was a _fantastic_ upper body workout. Even my very highly exercise-tolerant muscles were burning after two hours, begging me to take a rest. But I couldn't.

There was land on the horizon, and I _had_ to get to it. I could rest afterwards. There was no telling when the weather would change again, so I had to get on dry land as soon as possible. I did not want to end up washed away and lost at sea again.

Paddling as fast as I could, I had never been so exhausted in my life. My Haki was fading on and off, only even flickering still because of my desperation to keep going without damaging Stormfall's blade. It was more than a weapon to me, Stormfall was there only thing in the world that I could count on to never leave my side and to always be there to save me. It was my friend, my lifeline, my treasure. I would protect it.

Half an hour later, I arrived on the gloomy and rocky island. There were hills that brought to life very faded memories from my last life of the movie Nightmare Before Christmas, but that was all I could register before flopping down on the ground in exhaustion. Stormfall fell besides me, licking up a cloud of sand that I had to clench my eyes against to keep the grains from getting in them.

"Ah… shit.." I groaned to myself. "I haven't felt this beat up since the last time the old Geezer gave me Haki training… stupid old shit needs to learn how to hold back properly," the complaining helped calm me down. I couldn't even muster up a single inch of Armament anymore, let alone even the tiniest flicker of Observation, but I could hear the crunching of sand that told of someone approaching me. I tended, knowing I was helpless for the first time in quite a while. My muscles were overworked and refused to respond, but I managed to lift my head up to see that I was surrounded by armored apes clutching weapons in their hands. Spears and swords and maces. I grit my teeth, my exhausted brain telling me that the scene should be familiar, but I couldn't remember _why._

It didn't matter, I soon forgot the feeling of familiarity as one of the apes got interested in Stormfall. My eyes widened as I watched him walk to my beloved weapon, tapping it with one sausage-like finger.

"Don't touch my axe!" I yelled, startling the ape for only a second before he went back to poking it. "Stop!" I glared daggers at him, feeling anger rise in my stomach. Nobody touched Stormfall unless _I_ let them! It was my first gift from Gramps, it helped me save Sabo, it was always there when I needed it! And this filthy ape was _touching it!_ "LEAVE STORMFALL ALONE YOU MANGY ASSHOLE!" I growled at it.

The ape stood up, leveling a glare at me as if it understood my words, more than likely it merely understood the tone of my voice as a challenge. The ape raised one meaty leg over Stormfall's blade, shooting Ice through my veins as he began to bring it down.

"I _SAID YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO TOUCH STORMFALL, FUCKHEAD!"_ I felt desperation and fury rule over me. Nobody was allowed to even _try_ to break my axe! A wave of energy rocked through me, and burst out. The shockwave hit the ape, and his friends. One by one, the animals dropped.

Not even a single ape hair landed on my weapon.

I sighed in relief, my eyes dropping closed almost instantly. That energy had been the last bit that my body had been able to scrounge up, I needed _rest._ My body would no longer wait for me to get it on my own. The last thought I had before passing out was that _holy hell I just used Conqueror's Haki._

—*—*—*—*—*

I was warm. That was the first thing I registered. The second was that my hat wasn't on my head. The third was that I couldn't feel Stormfall on my back or in my hand.

And then it registered that I was on something soft, laying on my back. Both things being something that sand was _not,_ meaning I was not where I had landed. Fear that the apes had woke up before me to kidnap me and break Stormfall flooded through my body, filling me with adrenaline and sending me shooting up from the bed.

Wait, bed?

My eyes, which had flown open in my panic, quickly took in the dark Victorian room I was in. Before I could get too far into the observation of the room, I turned my head to see that my fedora lay on a small table next to the bed. And here was light coming from another corner of the room… and breathing.

I turned my whole body to the side so I could properly look in that direction, the sight I was met with making my whole body freeze and my breath hitch. Stormfall was leaned against the wall, perfectly unharmed. But next to it, sitting in a large cushioned chair with a lantern hanging by a hook on the wall next to him, was a man I recognized all too well. As well as the reason my mind had tried to tell me that this island was familiar.

My eyes met black-ringed golden orbs,the unsettling gaze holding my own easily. Once the initial shock wore off, I found myself relaxing and my minor intimidation wearing away. I could see one of the man's eyebrows tick upward, a small trickle of respect entering his sharp gaze.

"Thank you for taking me from the beach," I decided to be the one to break the silence, bowing my head respectfully. I reached out to grab my fedora, plopping the completely dried material on my head, taking comfort in its familiar weight. When I lifted my head back up, I saw the man was still staring at me.

"I wouldn't have, normally," he admitted in a deep voice that sounded naturally disinterested. It actually made me relax, reminding me of Raz's naturally bored voice. "But it isn't often that I feel a wave of someone's spirit in Paradise," he admitted, his hands clasped on his knees. "Especially not from a rookie pirate with less than a hundred million bounty."

I smirked at him. "Eh. I'm not trying to rack up my bounty too quickly. Thirty five million is good enough for me for the time being," I slid the covers of the bed to the side, turning so I could completely face him. I ignored the fact that I was dressed in unfamiliar clothes, deciding it best not to think to hard about _that_ particular fact. "And as for my spirit, that was the first time I've ever done Conqueror's," my familiar use of the terminology made Mihawk's eyes widen slightly in surprise. I chuckled. "Zeh heh. My grandfather started training me in Haki several years ago," I decided to tell the swordsman.

"Normal people would have passed out long before ever reaching the island," Mihawk decided to change the topic. "Especially when I saw the raft you were using and your lack of any oars. No normal person can hold Armament for longer than hour without exhausting themselves," he nodded to my blade, which I noticed was dried and oiled. He had taken care of it for me. "Yet there isn't a single spot of rust, a single crack, or any other damage to your axe that it _should_ have gotten after being used so roughly in the sea for so long. And I distinctly remembered seeing a yellow spot out on the sea at least half an hour before you washed up," he leaned back against the back of his chair. His eyes never left mine. When he didn't speak for a minute, I realized he was waiting for a response from me. I sighed.

"Stormfall," I nodded to my axe. "Has been my weapon since I was a kid. It's pole used to be extendable and retractable, to cater to my height at the time, but I've since had it filled with titanium. At this point, it's more of a family member than a mere weapon. I will not let it get even the slightest crack or chip," my gaze hardened. "It would make me feel like I failed it, if I did."

"So you forced yourself to protect it the whole time," he mused. "Even unlocked Conqueror's to protect it," the corner of his mouth quirked up into a smirk. "It's been quite a while since I've met someone so dedicated to their weapon."

His voice… sounded almost _pleasantly impressed._ And definitely a little pleasantly surprised, as well.

I cleared my throat, suddenly thinking of a whole new issue. "Excuse me. But how long have I been sleeping?"

"A whole day," the swordsman replied, nodding his head to indicate the scene outside the window. It was the exact same time of day as when I had landed on the island. I also saw a blip of yellow a far way off, making me frown when I realized that that meant my banana boat had been washed away. I'd need to use another. But, first things first.

I stood up from the bed, stretching my incredibly sore arms as the shichibukai watched with a single raised eyebrow.

"You overworked yourself far past your limits, not to mention the limits of most people," he remarked. "Even with the abnormal endurance you seem to have, it is also important to _rest."_

I sighed, looking over at him with a frown and shake of my head. "If I were any other person, I'd agree with you. With _my_ body, though, resting any longer than I already have will do more harm than good," I slowly walked closer to the tall man, reaching to grab Stormfall's pole.

"Usurper Maven," his use of my nickname made my hand freeze halfway to its target, my eyes darting to him. "The marines gave you that nickname as a jab at your physical state, didn't they?" I found myself once again looking into striking golden eyes that saw more than they probably should. "You have Usurper's." It was a statement, not a question. He might not have known before, but something I had said had clued him in.

I grabbed Stormfall, leaning the weapon easily over my shoulder since I didn't have its holster on at the moment.

"I do," I confirmed softly, my jaw taut. "And I would appreciate it if you kept it to yourself."

The man tilted his head slightly. "Why?" I felt as if he was measuring me, so I gave him my honest answer as I straightened myself up, making as much use of my almost six feet of height as I could.

"Because I do not want to be pitied and I do not want anyone to go easy on me or think less of me because of my condition," I told him, my voice thick with determination. "I don't need pity. Dying or otherwise, I am strong enough to beat most enemy pirates and marines that stand in my way easily. Dying or not, I _will_ shake this world up by its very foundations. Regardless of my disease, I will die when I am _ready to,_ and not a single second earlier."

"Kukuku," The soft laugh made me actually _flinch_ in shock, looking at the normally stoic swordsman with wide eyes. He looked up at me with a predatory smile. "Good!" He said as he stood up for the first time, towering over me in both height and pure presence. "If only you were a swordswoman," he said, actually sounding as if he regretted that I wasn't. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"I rather _not_ feel hopelessly inferior," I retorted blandly. "With my lifespan, it's unlikely that I'd have ever gotten to your level as a swordswoman before dying. Chances are higher for me to reach my full potential with Stormfall," I nodded to my trusty battle axe, still rested on my shoulder. Mihawk shrugged, heading to the door.

"Your clothes are in the first drawer of the nightstand by the bed," was all he said before leaving.

When I was dressed, I managed to use my Observation to find my way to Mihawk, who was outside of the castle for some reason. When I actually opened the front doors and met him on the bottom of the stairs, I found out why when I saw him holding Yoru, his blade, in his hand.

The sight instantly made me draw Stormfall from the holster I once again had on my back, the man's predatory grin aimed at me.

"Let's test your will, then, shall we?"

—*—*—*—*—*

Two months later, I was on a boat that Mihawk had decided to give me so I could meet up with my crew. After that first spar (read: my total defeat), he had decided to help my training despite the difference in the weapons we used. Surprisingly, he was good company. A little intimidating and distant, but good company. And he had a lot of good tips for how I could train in order to distribute my muscle mass more efficiently, and what muscles I should focus on most with a battle axe as my weapon. I had gotten good enough to lock Stormfall with Yoru for about five seconds, after which Mihawk would always toss me off balance and swiftly end the spar. But it was progress, and Hawkeye seemed pleased at my learning speed.

Unfortunately, he didn't have any experience actually _wielding_ battle axes, so two months was the longest I could milk his experience for.

I got on the small boat he gave me, pushing my fedora lower on my head. I smiled at him, having greatly unwinded around the stoic man after that very first spar. My energy annoyed him, but he hadn't kicked me out so I figured it didn't annoy him _that_ much.

"Bye, Hawky!" I called with a huge grin, making the man's eyebrow twitch. He _hated_ my nickname for him, on the other hand, and raised a hand to Yoru's blade threateningly.

"Call me that again, and I will slide the boat in half once you get too far to swim back here," I knew he could do it, too. The guy's flying attacks had the largest range I had ever seen before and I had no doubt he'd cut down every one of my banana rafts too, if he felt motivated enough.

Still, I couldn't resist. "We're friends now, Hawky. So expect me to drop by for a spar sometime in the future!" As I thought, he didn't make good on his threat. Instead, he huffed and lowered his hand, crossing his arms.

"Don't call it a spar until it can last longer than twenty seconds. I expect you to get stronger, Usurper Maven."

I had refused to give him my family name, so the jerk used my pirate nickname whenever he spoke to me. I figured it was probably his way of getting back at me for my nickname for _him_ , constantly reminding me of my disease just by saying the title.

With just another wave in response, I sailed off with my eternal post to guide me.

—*—*—*—*—*

I reached Hopeless Island right on time. It had been quite the distance from Mihawk's home, so I had went as fast as I dared in order to make it on time. The sight of the Dying Dream had a stronger effect than I had anticipated, instantly filling my very _bones_ with a profound sense of relief and comfort. I was _home._

I jabbed a large wooden stake into the ground of the island, using it to tie down the ship Mihawk had given me. As soon as that was taken care of, I _ran_ across the grassy, flower-covered ground until I reached them. My lovely crew had obviously been practicing their Haki, because the three oldest members (Katie, Lin, and Raz), all turned to me far before I reached them with large smiles on their faces.

"I'M BACK!" I yelled to them, waving both arms over my head. "I'M BACK!"

"Good!" I heard Raz tell back. "Katie isn't as good of a captain as you are!" I laughed at this statement, not stopping my run until I tackled Lin to the ground.

"Oh _god_ , I've missed you guys!"

"Three months _is_ far too long a time," Raz agreed.

"Luckily," Synalla spoke up with a wide smile. "You have the best crewmates ever. We used the time you gave us to go up to Sabaody as quickly as possible, bought an Eternal Post, and headed back here at full speed. We just arrived this morning."

I teared up a bit. They remembered my promise to meet Ace at Sabaody in six months, which was only a month away. We'd be celebrating our eighteenth birthdays together.

"You guys are the fucking _best!"_

—*—*—*—*—*

"You are the biggest idiot I have ever _met,"_ I deadpanned, staring up at a burning flag four days after Ace and I had met up in Sabaody, and one day after we had reached Fishman Island with the new coating on our ships.

My absolute _hot headed idiot_ of a brother had burned Whtiebeard's flag. It was still on fire in front of us, my eyebrow twitching as Deuce and my crew gaped behind us. I turned to my brother, whacking him over the head with one Haki-gloved hand. He took it, looking over at me with a deep frown.

"What? I'm aiming for the pinnacle! My _crew_ is heading for the pinnacle of the pirate world!" He said heatedly, gesturing with his arms. "Whitebeard is at the head of that world. So I'll kill him, and we'll be one step closer to our goal!"

"Oh, because it's going to be a walk in the park?" I asked, eyebrows raised. "Because killing the guy who managed to get himself into the Yonko and fought on par with— oh my _god,_ that's why you chose him," I took a step back, looking at my brother with wide eyes. His frown deepened, but he didn't argue that my observation had something to do with his choice. I ran a hand through my hair, letting out a long sigh. I knew I couldn't dissuade him. Thinking about it though, I instead lifted my head and smirked. "Okay, go after Whitebeard," I said easily, making my brother flinch at how easily I agreed. "But it won't end how you expect it to. I promise you that, Brat," I chuckled. "Zeh heh heh. I'll tag along with you until we find Shanks in the new world, we've already heard some rumors about where he is right now," I turned around, hand behind my head as I chuckled again. "Zeh heh heh heh. After that, I'll wait to visit you again until it cools down."

"Maven, don't you have faith in your _brother?"_ He asked, smirking cockily even as he tried to hide the unease my words had stirred up in him. I hummed.

"I love you, bro. But neither of us is invincible."

—*—*—*—*—*

A few weeks later, we saw the lead ship for the Red Hair Pirates in the distance, docked at a winter island. My Observation has increased in both rage and accuracy, and I found myself almost burned by Ace's aura. I could _feel_ the heat of his existence, the flame that had nothing to do with his devil fruit. The abilities he gained just so happened to match his personality. The heat of his very aura seemed to melt the snow, and I saw the storm clouds slowly stop spilling their precipitation. I took a deep, burning breath of the icy air around us. I ignored the loud protests from Ace's crew once they saw who we were meeting, closing my eyes and letting myself soak up the feeling of his mere existence.

Which was getting closer. I opened my eyes as the burning sensation of his aura walked out right next to me, and smiled up at him. We had refused to talk much about Whitebeard, neither of us wanting to fight with the other. We already saw so little of one another, fighting would only waste that time.

"Your crew is pretty calm, as always," he remarked as he looked over the crew. We had gained two more members, both guys. One was gained from our travel up to Sabaody, the other in the short time since we reached the Grand Line. They were both dependable, if not quite as strange as the rest of the crew. One was a tiger shark Fishman, so that was new at least. But they were just as unflappable as the rest of us, their battle for life hardening them from being easily intimidated.

"If Maven says it's okay, then we'll be fine," Lin said with an easy smile as she walked up to lean on the railing next to me. One by one, the rest of the Original Crew joined her.

"Maven doesn't take unnecessary risks," Katie added as she hopped up to sit on one of the Cerberus figureheads.

"She's not an idiot," was Raz's easy addition as he leaned next to Lin, making the silver haired girl nervous.

"This looks like fun!" Yalla added her two belly, coating her chest and arms in Haki before hugging Ace. The little girl had a surprising talent for Armament. My brother sighed, fighting back a smile as he gently patted the girl's pink hair.

"We're not fighting them, Maven hasn't even patted Stormfall _once._ She always pats Stormfall right before a battle, it's a habit of hers," Kilik chimed in, sitting on the ground as he polished and sharpened his latest sword— this one was shaped like a spoon.

Ace laughed, and I blinked. "Wait, I _do?!"_ I asked, horrified that I had such a telling little habit that I hadn't even been aware of. We finally pulled up to the island, both ships dropping anchor as my brother and I leapt over the side of the Dying Dream and headed up to a cave where we sensed several powerful presences. Some lower-level pirates of the crew saw us and went ahead to relay that we were there to greet Shanks.

We walked easily into the cave, I was batting snow off of my winter cloak. It was a lot like Ace's, but royal purple instead of tan.

"So, two Super Rookies in the New World want to greet me..?" I blinked, knowing that my bounty had only just reached fifty million for being associated with Ace and reaching the New World. I didn't think I was considered a Super Rookie yet. Oh well, not the time to argue about that. We had both conveniently forgotten that most pirate "greetings" were violent, which was quickly reminded to us as Shaks popped his sword ever so slightly out of its sheath with his thumb. Ace and I rose our hands at the same time, but I let Ace speak first.

"No, don't misunderstand! We're not here to fight," he started. I picked up where he left off.

"We came here because our idiot brother had probably told us a million times about how you saved his life all those years ago," I told him, and Ace and I bowed at the same time.

"We just wanted to thank you for helping him back then," the two of us said at the same time.

"You're Luffy's siblings?! Why didn't you say so?" The man immediately lost his intimidation, smiling widely at us, reminding me of Luffy. "Come sit!" He started pouring us sake liberally as we sat down, and I smiled as the party started.

"Hawkeye visited us a few weeks ago, saying that he found a girl that uses a battle axe," Shanks said after a short while of drinking and eating. "He said you have potential," I choked on my food at that, pounding my chest until I recovered. I looked up at Shanks with wide eyes.

"What, did he mention my name?!" I asked, shocked. But the red haired man just shook his head and laughed.

"No, but there aren't very many six-foot-tall women with purple battle axes walking around!" He said, making me blush as I realized he was right. And because Mihawk actually _told somebody important about me._ I sipped at my cup of sake, not knowing how to handle that information.

"I've still got a long way to go," I finally admitted after composing myself, looking up at my youngest brother's savior with a large smile. "But I'll get there. I'll shake this whole world up! Zeh heh heh!" The red haired man grinned back at me, but when our eyes locked I realized that I saw deep intelligence there. He might be a partying drunk, but he wasn't dumb. And his gaze told me that he believed me. _In_ me _._

I swallowed, stunned into stillness as Shanks turned his attention from me and onto my brother, asking about whether or not we had been to Loguetown.

"Only because Maven decided that we'd meet up there before going into the Grand Line," Ace admitted. "But I have no interest in Pirate King or Gol D. Roger like Luffy is. I just want to make my reputation spread across the whole world," Ace was getting better at hiding his dislike for the man. It almost didn't show in his lighthearted tone.

"How do you plan on improving your reputation of you're not interested in Pirate King?" The Yonko asked. His eyes were on Ace, but I could tell the question was for both of us.

"By taking down Yonko," Ace told them, causing everyone to freeze and go silent for a moment before Ace amended; "Not you! I already owe you for helping Luffy, I don't want to fight you!" My brother assured them, returning the party to its previous energy right away. I snorted.

"I don't plan on fighting you," I looked up to Shanks. " _Yet,"_ once again, the air stilled as Shanks met my gaze evenly. "I am only going to be the captain of the Hopeless Pirates for two more years. After that, I'll be joining Luffy after he sets sail in order to become his first mate. I promised him when we were little," I smiled as the Yonko's eyes widened slightly. "And Luffy will have to fight you eventually in order to become Pirate King, which means I'll be right there by his side when he does," I lifted my cup to my lips.

And then the world decided to be a _bitch._ The cup slipped from my fingers, making a large clatter that rung through the silent air and made Ace stiffen as he looked to me with horrified eyes. I took a deep breath, forcing back the instinctual panic. I was an _adult,_ I could handle a little unscheduled reality slap.

"Ace, could you get my stress balls from the Dying Dream?" I asked softly, instantly going through the exercises I had memorized and flexing my fingers. My brother nodded an apology to the Yonko, jumping up to get what I had requested. I could feel the eyes on me, and looked up to Shanks with a lopsided smile. "At least," I whispered. "I'll be by his side if I can fight my way there."

"Usurper Maven," Shanks said, gripping his cup as he made the connection. "Those marines have stupid senses of humor."

"It was Garp," I said with a soft laugh, ignoring their slight surprise at my casual use of my Grandfather's name. "You have the same tells as Crocus, though you hide it a lot better," I said as I continued to flex my hands, the movements very slowly getting stronger. "You recognized us as soon as we walked in, didn't you?"

Shanks finished the cup he had been drinking, setting it down with a sigh.

"Ah," He said in confirmation. "You two are 'his' spitting image," he admitted, locking eyes with me again. "But you're becoming more familiar in worse ways than your twin."

I laughed softly, nodding. "At least there's little chance that Ace will develop it as he gets older. I can only hope that I took it all from our father's genes when I was born first," I confided in the red haired man, looking down at my hands. "We just turned eighteen, you know. The doctors said I wouldn't live past _three,_ but here I am. Celebrating my seventeenth year of survival," I looked up, feeling the determination burning in my eyes along with a few tears that I refused to shed. "He knew Garp would hide us. So he told Garp about us before he was executed, and the geezer took us and hid us with a family of bandits," I laughed. "And when I was diagnosed? The idiot brought me to _marine headquarters,_ and raised me there right under their noses until I was ten," I didn't know why I was telling Shanks all of that, but I couldn't find it in me to regret it.

"You have a lot of will, there," he replied after a long moment of silence. I could feel Ace's burning presence right at the mouth of the cave, he had been there for a little while. Our conversation had made him freeze and he was listening in, but none of us bothered bringing attention to it. "Anyone else would have given in."

"You know that's a lie," I said with a wry smile. "There are a few others who'd fight like I am. I have a whole crew of them, though my desire to live might be stronger than some of theirs."

"A whole crew?" Shanks asked, straightening. I chuckled.

"We're all _Hopeless cases,"_ I hinted, though I knew the older man had already figured it out. "But don't worry about me. This is a speed bump; I'll live until I'm ready to die. Not a second earlier," I repeated the words I had said to both Hawkeye and Crocus. "No matter how hard I have to work."

That's when Ace came up from behind me, handing me my special stress balls (their resistance was much larger than normal versions) with a soft smirk of pride.

"Dwahahaha!" Shanks laughed loudly, raising a cup of sake to us. "I look forward to seeing you and Luffy when it's time for you to face me!"

Ace dominated the conversation with Shanks after that, the two talking about who Ace planned on taking down in the Yonko. There was shock when Ace admitted Whitebeard. Meanwhile, I snickered, earning a slap over my head from my twin.

"Don't laugh!"

"Zeh heh," I snickered again. "I already said I won't stop you," I said with a grin. "But really, you should be ready for something unexpected to happen," I just ignored Shanks's curious glance at that statement, continuing to re-strengthen my grip.

Then my twin asked about Shanks's scar, and I straightened up as he actually began to tell us the story. I listened with rapt attention, having never heard it before, even from the anime. Though I knew who had caused it, the actual story was something I hadn't known, and it was interesting. By the end of the party my grip was back to normal, and my twin and I stood up with another bow of thanks and a wave. After quick goodbyes, my brother and I went back to our respective ships and sailed off.

—*—*—*—*—*

"I noticed Ace's Haki even before he got onto the island," Shanks spoke up to his crew after their two visitors had left, leaving the red haired man with a lot to think about. "He was like fire itself, wasn't he?"

"Yeah, that's why the snow melted away. Now that he's gone, the snowstorm is coming back," Beckman agreed. Shanks chuckled.

"And Maven's like a storm. She tempers him with rain or fuels him with lightning," he said as a grin spread over his face, wrinkling the three scars over his left eye. "Like a force of nature, both of them. What do you think of them, Beckman?"

"Ace is more naive than he looks," his First Mate replied, leaning forward over his knees. "He seems more like a fighter than a pirate. He should have joined the Revolutionary Army if he wants to destroy the world. At this rate, he won't be able to be the captain of multiple ships," he said easily. Shanks listened. "I don't think he deserves to be a shichibukai either, so I don't know why he was offered that position."

His captain nodded, though whether he was agreeing with the observation or just acknowledging it was unknown. "And his sister?"

"She's more fragile than she lets on," the First Mate said instantly. "But she's strong willed, and a lot more observant than Ace. She'd be a good captain if she wanted to stick with it, she clearly has an eye for strategy and kept up with you pretty well for a rookie."

"But her crew's sapping her energy," Shanks finished with a nod. "I'm glad she's chosen to be Luffy's first mate. Even if she doesn't last long enough to meet us again," Shanks smiled. "I think _he'd_ be pretty happy about her choosing the next King," the redhead said softly. "Luffy'll be fine, with her to pull him from the water."

—*—*—*—*—*

**WARNING: Get tissue boxes ready for Chapter 16. I will not elaborate further; just get them ready.**

 


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remember the warning.

"Gino," I called out to our Fishman member, only a few hours after we split ways with Ace. I held up my hand, smiling. "My grip has been deteriorating faster lately. Let's arm wrestle."

The tall, sharp toothed man looked down at me, raising an eyebrow as he chuckled.

"Tahaha. You're the only human I know who actually _wants_ to arm wrestle a Fishman," he told me as we both moved to sit on either side of a large crate. I snorted, smirking.

"Don't you mean I'm the only human you know who can _win?"_ I retorted happily as we locked hands, setting our elbows firmly down on the flat surface of the crate. Fishmen were definitely strong, and I had a blast finally having someone who could keep up with, and even sometimes _surpass_ , my physical strength. We pushed against each other, our muscles warring against our skin as we tried to make the other person's arm move, but neither of us gained any ground against the other.

That's when a massive geyser rose in the air just outside the Dying Dream, shooting water droplets harmlessly over the deck. The crew looked over calmly, curious to see if it was a weather phenomenon or not. In fact, it wasn't. The click of wooden sandals on our deck helped draw my eyes to the massive man now on board, a man that had Gino so surprised he froze, and allowed me to win our arm wrestle. He didn't even seem to notice his loss as I got up and turned to the Fishman who had just boarded our ship.

The man was almost round, but not in a way that suggested he was fat. In fact, I sensed very tensed strength there, as if his body was _meant_ to be that shape and he was very much fit. I smiled, recognizing the man from the newspapers easily.

"Jimbei," I said, even though the man was in a fighting stance. "I'm Maven, captain of this crew. And _you_ have the wrong ship," I said easily, my Nakama moving to sit on crates or chairs around the deck go watch us but none of them making any move to look hostile. The whale shark fishman's eyes scanned over all of us, and he slowly straightened.

"Usually people look more shocked or threatened when they meet a shichibukai," he mused. His deep voice was commanding with natural strength, but relaxed and polite in a way that I knew he no longer planned to attack us. I smiled.

"I spent two months with Dracule Mihawk after I washed up on the island he lives at on accident," I said, chuckling at the blue man's obvious surprise. "And my crew is the hardest in the world to intimidate, don't forget that. Anyway, I assume you're chasing after Ace? That idiot _did_ declare war on Whitebeard," I sighed, running a hand through my hair as I remembered my brother's foolishness. "Rumor has it, you're good friends with him despite your opposing statuses."

"Ah," Jimbei agreed. "I thought you were allied with the Spade Pirates? People saw you next to Ace when he burnt the flag."

My nose wrinkled for a moment. "I was," I admitted. "And as for alliance? Eh. The truth is information the marines would like to get their hands on," I told the bigger man. "And you are too close to the marines for comfort. How will I know you won't tell them that Ace is my twin brother?"

There was silence for a long moment, and I face palmed at myself as my crew yelled at me. _Stupid Luffy and Geezer!_ I thought angrily. _Those idiots rubbed off on me!_

"Brother?" Jimbe repeated, shocked for a moment before he calmed down. "I see, that explains a lot. I'm sorry for appearing so suddenly," he bowed his head slightly. "I will not tell anybody about your secret, Maven-san. Consider it my apology for almost attacking you and your crew," with that, the shichibukai jumped back into the water and sped off in the direction of Ace's ship.

"His apology for almost attacking _us,_ but not his apology for going to attack your brother?" Lin asked, eyes furrowed as she walked to stand next to me. The girl's gray-haired head barely reached my shoulder.

"And what was _that?!"_ Katie asked as she stomped up to me angrily, meeting my eyes with confusion and exasperation in her sapphire orbs. "You're usually much better at lying and keeping secrets! That's why the Marines haven't found out about you and Ace, or about all of us being terminally ill," she said, clearly having been caught off guard by my slip of the tongue. I blinked down at her, and rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly.

"Eh. My grandpa and my youngest brother are _shit_ at keeping secrets, and end up doing exactly what I just did… heh, they must have rubbed off on me a bit. I'm gonna go sulk and exercise my grip and jaw muscles in a corner now."

—*—*—*—*—*

"Lin! Synalla!" I called as I batted away an attacking marine with the flat side of Stormfall. "Fuck! Why the hell did you come into the Grand Line, Hina?!" I asked, annoyed that the woman had followed us. Lin jumped forward, taking down four men who had tried to ambush me from the side at once, and Synalla darted through the crowd with her tessen at her sides easily cutting through them. Gino and the other newer member of our crew, a user of the Cat-cat fruit, model Lynx, were tearing through anybody who tried to sneak up on us from the back. Raz was on board, using his special smoke pellets to both give him smoke cover and temporarily blind anyone caught in it for twenty-four hours.

"You've gotten stronger, Usurper Maven," Hina commented from where she was trying to surround me with a large chain of her cages extending from her fingers. I easily chopped through them, Stormfall's blade coated with Haki.

"You haven't," I snapped back teasingly, quickly gaining ground on the marine Captain. "BLUNT HAIL!" I switched my grip, assaulting the woman with a barrage of blunt blows. Hina grunted, dodging or blocking most of my strikes. The woman was a fucking good hand-to-hand combatant, but I wasn't one to shy away from a challenge. "HURRICANE SLASH!" I kept my blade coated in pitch-black Haki as I went into the very first special move I ever created for myself, spinning my axe in even faster circles and slashes than I had been able to do the last time I had clashed with Hina.

"Hina will not let you go!" She spoke, swinging one arm at me as the other tried to surround me with an iron cage. I took a deep breath, stepping back and admiring the bruises and slashes I had given the woman. A few of my slices had actually given her bleeding gashes, though none of them were deep because of how fast she moved.

I was surrounded by iron bars, and the marine in front of my was quickly drawing them in. I swung Stormfall back, slipping my hand to the very base of its pole and engaging all my upper body muscles. As quickly as possible, I spun. "GALE BREAKER!" I yelled, a flying slash coming from my battle axe and breaking through every pillar of iron. I painted from the exertion of using so many powerful moves so close together, but I easily heaved Stormfall back up into attack position.

And then I felt it. A wave of playfulness, dependability, and powerful morality came onto my Observation's radar. I grinned, backing away from Hina.

"Looks like its a full reunion," I said playfully, making the marine captain pause and narrow her eyes at me. Before she could respond, however, a man suddenly landed on the marine ship right next to me, tailcoat flapping in the wind and top hat held tightly to his blonde head.

Sabo looked over at me, one eyebrow raised. "I heard that Ace declared war on Whitebeard," was the first thing out of his mouth. He ignored Hina. "Why the hell didn't you stop him?!"

I glared at my brother, lifting my hands up into the air. "First of all, do you _honestly_ think I could have?! That guy's almost as stubborn as the rubber idiot!" I tried not to use names, since there _was_ a very loyal marine destined to climb the ranks within earshot. "Secondly, this is not the time! Hurry up and help me send Hina flying so we can loot the ship and ditch this area," I lifted Stormfall over my shoulder, making the pink haired woman stiffen. "LIGHTNING SLASH!"

A purple spark formed in my flying strike, making me grin. It was finally visible, the power I put into the slice. It sparked a lot like the lightning that the move got its name from, and even though Hina had moved to block it the pure force sent her overboard. Lower ranking marines quickly jumped over the side of their ship to save their devil fruit user Captain, and Katie, Yalla, and Kilik already had the last of the grunts incapacitated.

I slid Stormfall over into the holster on my back, looking over at my brother who was smiling proudly at me. I looked away with a soft blush.

"Idiot! You crashed our party, so hurry up and help me loot," I said gruffly as I grabbed my brother by the arm and dragged him inside the ship. He laughed at me.

"Okay, Okay! I should see if there's any useful information in here for the Army, anyway," he said easily. I led him into the storeroom, taking a giant cloth bag from the side and starting to fill it up with all the food (mostly fruit) I could reach. Sabo leaned against the wall as he watched me. "Really though," he said, this time more softly. "About Ace. Why didn't you stop him from burning Whitebeard's flag back on Fishman Island?"

"I tried," I admitted, pushing several mangos into the bag. "I told him to think about what he was doing, but he just said that he knew exactly what he was doing. I told him not to be stupid, he told me not to be a hag," I summarized the argument for my blonde brother. "Then the asshole moved too quickly for me to block him. I managed to grab one of his arms with my hand sheathed in armament, but he just lifted his other and shot a stream of fire at the thing. The downsides of him being _made_ of fire," I sighed, closing the now- filled bag and getting a new one, filling that one up with meat and bread and vegetables.

Sabo sighed, and I looked over to see his running a hand down his face. "That guy's gonna get himself killed," he said softly, seriously. "It's almost like he has a death wish or something," Sabo froze, realizing what he just said and flicking his gaze to me. I smirked at him half heartedly.

"It's alright. It makes me pissed off to think that he might want to die when he has a chance to live that some people don't get," I frowned. "But he doesn't. It might seem like it, but he really does just want to make a name for himself separate from our father's. He's a reckless idiot though," I scoffed and kept shoveling food into the bag. "An absolute reckless idiot who just doesn't think he _will_ die. He's got an inflated ego. Things have been going too easily for him," I tied up the second bag now that the whole storeroom was empty, and threw both over my shoulder as I led Sabo out of that room.

"You think that clashing with Whitebeard might wake him up? Knock some sense into him?" The revolutionary asked me. I could see him watching my face as he tried to keep an eye on all the emotions that passed it. I figured it was a habit he picked up from being in the Army so long, always questioning people and picking out spies. Staying alert to make sure that nobody knew about them that wasn't supposed to.

It was still unnerving though.

"I do," I replied softly.

"And what if Whitebeard kills him?" I whipped my head to my brother, eyebrows furrowed. "Ace is strong. He knows a bit of Armament, and he has Conqueror's. That's already enough to make him a huge threat. And Whitebeard doesn't take threats to his territory lightly."

I looked down, stewing over what he just said. It was true, Whitebeard protected his territory fiercely. It was one thing the Yonko had in common; anyone who tried to take their territory or bring them down was fought until they were destroyed. There were very few exceptions to that rule, even Shanks didn't let people get away with trying to challenge him or take away the lands protected under his flag. Ace was stronger than he was in the manga or anime. Would Whitebeard even still take him in as a member? Or would the strongest pirate in the world decide to get rid of the threat my twin posed this time around?

My hands clenched into fists, but I forced myself to calm down. I couldn't change the differences I had caused in this world. So I wouldn't regret what I had done, that was a path that led straight to self destruction. I had to have faith in Ace. I had to believe that he had something else about him that Whitebeard would want in his crew. Something Whitebeard would see that would make the man still want to put Ace on the pirate throne.

"Still," I finally spoke up to my brother. I noticed we were back on my ship, and I blinked in surprise that my deep thought had actually distracted me so much. "Still," I repeated more firmly, looking over into my brother's eyes evenly. "I believe that something is going to happen that neither you nor Ace expect."

"And why is that?" The blonde asked, looking over how my crewmates were dumping bags of weapons, repair supplies, and other food from the marine ship onto our deck.

"Prepare the sails! Turn starboard! We're getting away from here!" Lin's voice called over us as she yelled or instructions for everyone to carry out in order to get us away from the looted marine ship and Hina, show as still being pulled out of the water.

"Whitebeard calls all of his crew members his _sons,"_ I whispered to Sabo, stepping close to him so that nobody would overhear us.

"Yes, and Ace doesn't exactly have a very good opinion of father figures," Sabo snapped back just as quietly. "He beat mine up, he blames yours for everyone hating him and for your disease, and we don't even _know_ who Luffy's is," Sabo pointed out.

"To be fair," I started. "Your father was a class A asshole, and all of us wanted to beat him up on at least one or two occasions. Hell, I robbed your house at least once a month after you left to join the revolutionaries just to get back at that jerkwad—"

"Wait, you did _what?"_

"— and me and Ace's father _is_ blamed for just about everything wrong in the world. Considering how he was openly a very successful criminal and very good at what he did, I'm not surprised that Ace doesn't have the best view of him—"

"No, wait, let's back up to the robbing for a second, Maven,"

"—And gramps _did_ manage to let slip something to me in private about Luffy's father, so I can guarantee that three of us will have a much different view point than you will on _that_ one," I said cryptically.

"Okay, please stop dropping bombshells like that, you're going to break my head," Sabo interrupted, rubbing his temples with his fingertips.

"Oh please, I haven't even mentioned the two months I spent training with Hawkeye Mihawk at his home island, or how Ace and I visited Shanks to thank him for saving Luffy. Anyway—"

"Seriously, I am getting a headache," Sabo groaned.

I chuckled for a second, them placed one hand on Sabo's shoulder. He lowered his hands from his head, meeting my serious gaze with his own as we refocused on the topic at hand.

"Really though," I whispered. "Whitebeard legitimately considers his crew to be his sons. And Ace has never had a parental figure he could depend on, we can count the number of people Ace has that care about him on one or two hands with fingers still left over. Out of every pirate in the world, Whitebeard is probably the only one that exists that Ace could accept as a captain. As _his_ captain. And the Whitebeard crew is probably the only crew in the world that can help Ace _heal."_

Sabo stared at me, dumbfounded, for a long moment. "You think he'll join the Whitebeards," Sabo breathes, shaking his head. "Are you crazy? There's no way Ace would be able to accept that! You said it yourself, he's a stubborn idiot with barely two brain cells to rub together—"

"Okay, I definitely didn't say _exactly_ that,"

"—and he plans to _kill_ Whitebeard. There is no way he'll just suddenly give that up and join him!"

"You're right," I said with a nod. "There will be a long fight. And possibly several hundred assassination attempts. But I think Whitebeard can do it," I turned to look over at my crew. "I think Whitebeard can melt the last bit of Ace remains frozen."

"I hope you're right," Sabo murmured. "I'll stick close by just in case, I have some missions to work on in this area anyway. And—" a bird arrived, dropping a letter in Sabo's hand, which he had lifted up as soon as he had sighted the avian creature. He unrolled it, and out of respect for Revolutionary business (read: nearly crippling fear of Dragon's revenge if he found out I read something without permission) I stepped back and focused on the ocean around us as my brother read the message.

"Ace's been sighted fighting with the Shichibukai Jimbei in Whitebeard territory," my brother said, and I turned back around to see his mouth straightened into a tense line.

"What? But it's only been five days since Jimbei came on our ship and left again!" I said, shocked at the speed of everything happening.

"Ah," Sabo agreed, looking up at me as the rolled he letter back up. "He must have caught up to Ace pretty quickly, because they've been fighting for three days nonstop. The informant says that it doesn't look like they're going to stop anytime soon, either," the blonde took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

"Jimbei's a Fishman. He's got a good handle on using water as a weapon, and Ace is made of fire," I said, voicing what I figured he was thinking out loud. My brother just nodded, looking up into my eyes. I smirked at him. "Calm down. He's not gonna be taken down by a little water. He's more hard headed than that," I threw an arm around Sabo's shoulder. He was starting to get even slightly taller than Ace, but I was still keeping up well enough in the height department.

"Come on, hotshot. Take a break from changing the world for a little while, and have a drink or something. You need to relax."

—*—*—*—*—*

I inched farther up the cliff I was on, raising the spyglass to my eye. Lin was next to me, using her binoculars to look at the same thing as me. The air was tense, feeling both too dry and too humid at the same time. My brother and Jimbei were both on their backs, worn out and unable to continue their battle. The sky was dark with thunder clouds blocking the sky, though it was already late in the day and the sun was due to set soon anyway.

"I see them," I whispered, a giant ship approaching from behind the Spade Pirates and the two exhausted fighters. "Woah. Newgate is _huge_ ," I had always known that Whitebeard was a large person in the manga. But seeing his towering form in real life, giant naginata held easily in one massive, pale white hand and his white curve of a mustache stark against the dark surroundings was something on a completely different scale. His entire form excluded intimidation, his powerful conqueror's Haki tearing through the area without mercy and even reaching me and Lin from our perch on a small outcropping of rock jutting out from the ocean. We were a good distance away, barely able to even see the giant ship with our bare eyes, but his spirit still touched us and tried to overpower us.

But Lin and I were made of tougher material than that, material that had been tempered for years by the knowledge that we were destined for an early death. We trembled for a short moment under the surprising existence of the powerful Haki, but adjusted almost instantly.

"Do you think they know we're here?" My Nakama asked, pulling her binoculars away from her eyes for a moment to look at me. I put my spyglass down, turning my head to meet her gaze.

"Most likely," I said easily. "Some of them probably have extremely wide Observation ranges, judging by how far Newgate's Conqueror's reaches," I lifted the spyglass back to my eye, watching as my brother stood and faced down the Yonko. I saw him yelling, though we were too far away to hear it.

"What'cha doing?" An easy going voice asked from behind us a few minutes later. Lin and I had both felt the presence approach us from the air, and didn't even turn to look at the mythical Zoan user.

"Just keeping an eye out," I replied calmly, keeping my spyglass to my eye. "Don't worry your head, Marco of the Whitebeard Pirates. We don't plan to attack."

"I figured that much," I finally looked up to see the blonde man leaning against one of the rocks on our little outcropping. Seeing he had my attention, he nodded to our banana raft tied up nearby, though the glaringly yellow craft was hidden from the view of the fighting pirates behind the biggest of the rocks. "You didn't come with your whole crew, just you and one of your other highest ranking members," he said smoothly. "But that raises the question, why _are_ you here?"

"Why are _you?"_ Lin interrupted, turning around to face the man like I had. "You can get in the way of Ace's fire without any risk. Why aren't you protecting Whitebeard?" I sighed, knowing my wonderful brawler didn't have much of a mind for strategy, and didn't much care for evaluating the differences in people's strengths unless they were brawlers she was interested in.

"I _would_ be, if only for appearances, if I hadn't felt you guys all the way out here," he told her. "But Pops doesn't need me to handle that guy."

"Are you saying Ace is wea—"

"He is right, Lin," I interrupted my navigator before she could finish her sentence, making her gawk at me. "Ace is strong, but not compared to Whitebeard. That's exactly why I told him not to be an idiot when he decided to declare war on them," that seemed to spark Marco's interest.

"Eh? I thought your crews were allied," he said, tilting his head. I hummed noncommittally, turning and raising my spyglass to my eye again. "Why else would you be checking up on Fire Fist?"

"If things turn out the way I hope they do, you might find out eventually," I responded absently as I watched my brother get completely overpowered. "I'm only here to make sure he doesn't get himself killed. If I have to, I'll jump in to block a strike for him. But I really hope I don't have to," I frowned. "I rather _not_ risk breaking my axe. Even sheathed in Haki…" I trailed off, paying attention to the fight again.

"Could you even make it in time if Pops decided to kill him?" Marco asked, curious. I nodded.

"That's why we chose this little rocky spot. It's the perfect distance for me to jump halfway, and I can use a flying attack from Stormfall," I patted my blade so he knew what I was talking about, "to catapult me the rest of the way over."

"Should you be telling him that?" Lin asked, frowning at me. I shrugged in response, retracting the spyglass and hanging it on my hip.

"It doesn't matter now, it's over," I said as I stood and stretched. "As I thought, he and his crew got captured."

"Ehh?!" Lin grabbed me and started to shake me as if she wanted to wake me up. "Then why aren't we rescuing him?!"

"He was the one that got himself into this mess by being an idiot," I responded, putting a hand on Lin's head to shove her away. I looked over to Marco. "Hey," The man was already looking at me, and straightened up when I spoke to him. "Make sure he doesn't get himself killed, will you? We'll probably see each other again sometime soon. But until then… eh," I shook my head with a chuckle. "Never mind. We're leaving now that we know what happened, so see you around," I lifted a hand to wave to him, and climbed down the rocks to get into our banana raft.

—*—*—*—*—*

"You have a really strange Captain," Marco said when he was left alone with the short grey-headed girl. The woman instantly raised her head to him, glaring at him with her emerald eyes that were suddenly burning with ferocity.

"Nobody is allowed to call her weird but _us_ ," she hissed softly. "I know you don't think much of her. It probably looks like she's abandoning Ace even though they clearly trust each other,"

"Isn't that's exactly what's happening?" Marco interrupted with a raised eyebrow. "Why would you follow someone who abandons the guy you're allied with?"

" _Don't pretend you know her,"_ Lin snarled, stepping closer to the devil fruit user with danger and warning being exuded from her very aura. "She isn't abandoning him. She doesn't always explain the way she sees things, but she _always_ knows the best way to handle situations like this. Situations that normal people would panic and make stupid mistakes over. And we follow her because she is the _only_ captain for us," the short girl drew herself up to her full height, looking straight into Marco's eyes despite the massive height difference and somehow still coming off intimidating. Though Marco, of course, was mostly immune.

"You might not understand," Lin whispered sharply to the male. "But Maven is our hope. People abandoned us and told us to give in to death. Even our own families. But Maven came by and told us that giving up was stupid. She brought us down from our lowest points in our lives, and allowed us to become more than we could ever have been without her. Every last one us would have already been in a casket or not much better off than that if we had never met her. So keep an eye out," Lin turned to join her captain in the raft. "Because Maven's name will become even more well known than Whitebeard's one day."

—*—*—*—*—*

I held out my hand to the bunny Mink. His nose twitched as he looked up at me, little red eyes filled with a glimmer of hope among a sea of despair. I smiled at him.

"Come on," I whispered. "Join us," I stood up and waved to indicate my crew, now spanning two whole ships. The second was slightly smaller than the Dying Dream, but the same Junk style and color scheme. The main ship had nine people on it (not including me of course), the other one had five. "We're all Hopeless cases. But the only thing worse than living alone is dying alone. In our crew, Every member is forbidden from doing either of those things," the mink slowly stood up, his black ears pushed almost flush against the back of his head. He turned to run his gaze over the fourteen people smiling at him from our black and grey ships, and slowly allowed a smile to take over his mouth. The man nodded, clasping my hand with his black-furred paw.

"Okay!" He agreed.

"Welcome aboard, Conill," I said as I helped the black bunny mink board the second ship. It was named the Dying Hope, and didn't have a figurehead like our lead ship.

Four months had passed since Ace's battle with Whitebeard. I was gathering crewmates pretty quickly in the New World. Perhaps it was the increase in species of people that lived there, or maybe just that the New World was much more ruthless than any other part of the world, but I was finding plenty of people for the Hopeless Pirates. My bounty had risen to fifty-five million, only staying so low because I wasn't blatantly getting involved in any big fights. Hina not included. I didn't want to rack up too big of a bounty and put Luffy in danger during the first half of his journey, after all.

"He News Coo just came!" Katie called from the Dying Dream, waving a bundle of papers in her hands. I smoothly walked over, smiling and thanking my friend before opening it up to read.

Almost instantly, I laughed. On the front page was a picture of Ace, with a large tattoo of the Whitebeard Jolly Roger on his back. I just threw my head back, and _laughed._ "ZEHHEHHEHHEHHEH!"

"I see you've already heard the news?" Came the deadpanned voice of my blonde brother, who had pulled up on a small rowboat next to my ship. I leaned over the side, waving the bundle of papers at him.

"You owe me a thousand bellies! Zehhehheh!" I teased mercilessly as Sabo jumped on board, tying one end of a rope to our ship to keep his rowboat from getting lost at sea.

"I came to tell you that the Moby Dick was spotted about two day's sail from here," he grunted as he moodily dug into his pocket to pull out, and hand to me, the wad of cash I had won from him. I waved it in the air to my crew mates.

"See?! This is why you don't bet against me, everyone! Zehhehheh! I know my brothers better than anyone else! Zehehehhehheh! Anyone else wanna lose money to me?!"

"No thanks!" My crew called back, either sounding bored or grinning back at me in amusement. I shoved my new money into my pocket and turned to my disgruntled brother, smiling widely as I walked over and slapped his back.

"Alright then! What are we waiting for? Tell Lin where we're heading. Let's go pay our idiot brother a visit!"

Two days later, we were pulling up to the front of a small group of Whitebeard ships. A few grunts came out to stop us, but I just leveled a beaming smile at them.

"Hey. We're not here to fight. Could you tell Whitebeard that Maven of the Hopeless Pirates would like to talk to him? Oh, and Sabo," I jabbed a thumb at my brother. Normally we wouldn't use his rank in the Revolutionary Army, but… well, it was officially on bounty posters already, so we figured that it wouldn't hurt anything at that point. As we figured, we didn't even need to say it for the guys to recognize him. They immediately stammered something about "chief of staff" and "revolutionary army," and "monster," But we ignored it with the ease of a lifetime of receiving similar attention.

I had been exercising my Conqueror's. It was extremely hard to summon up, and it wasn't very impressive yet, but it was better than going in without it. I let it slowly fill my body, then move outward. It shocked Sabo, who I hadn't told about my relatively newfound ability. It only reached about ten feet in every direction, but it _hummed_ in the air. It wasn't physically destructive like Shanks' had proven to be, it had even made the campfire flicker when we had visited him and that had been a weak burst of it, or as much of a blatant shockwave as Luffy's had been portrayed in the manga and anime. But it was fluid, almost _alive_ , as it hummed and flickered around my body.

And, the most important part, I _let it pass_ over everyone without making them pass out. It had taken three months of nonstop practice to get that bit of control learned, but it was worth it. I walked straight up to Whitebeard, leaving behind me a trail of people who had felt my Spirit, who were slightly trembling from it, but who I had _allowed_ to stay upright.

Edward Newgate stared down at me, close enough for my Haki to just barely graze him. The look in his steely eyes told me that he knew exactly what I had done, and the gesture of peace that it had been— albeit a tricky wager on my part. With a wide smile, I let it drop.

And instantly bowed, shock easily being felt as it moved through the crowd of people around me.

"I came to thank you for taking care of my idiot of a twin brother," I straightened, smiling straight at the imposing figure that dwarfed me. "I saw that Ace had officially joined your crew, and— _oomph,"_ I let the boy tackle me, instantly laughing (to the confusion of everyone around me) as I found a certain freckled boy pinning me to the ground with his hug.

"You knew!" He accused, ruffling my hair and knocking off my fedora in the process. I just kept laughing as I hugged him back, feeling it when realization slowly rose in the group around us.

"You're his _sister?!_ " Marco asked, and I looked up to see him pointing at me. "That's what you meant back then, when you said I might find out about what your alliance really was if things went like you expected!"

I smiled in response, finally throwing my brother's body off of me and standing up, stretching to crack my back.

"So you're the brat's sister, eh?" Whitebeard's booming voice cut through, making me straighten up and look up at the Yonko again. "Hmph. The bounty posters aren't accurate enough. The two of you are nearly identical in person, if the marines saw you two at the same time then the secret would be ruined," he mused, though he seemed relaxed enough that he must have been comfortable with my presence. "What I don't understand, however, is what a brat from the Revolutionary Army wants with me."

"Oh," Sabo spoke up, the focus suddenly on him. He removed his hat and bowed. "I am also here to thank you for taking care of— _fwuah_ " it was Sabo's turn to get tackled, making me snicker. I turned to Whitebeard, smirking.

"Sabo is also my and Ace's brother," I explained for the currently preoccupied blonde. The shock in the crowd made me laugh. "Zeh heh heh! We're not a normal family for sure. We have one last brother, but he won't set sail for almost another two years. When he does, he'll be making even more waves than the three of us combined," I nodded to my brothers. Sabo had been away from Ace for far longer than I had, so he was subject to an even longer and more suffocating embrace.

Just the fact that Ace was comfortable enough to hug us in front of the crew on the Moby Dick was evidence enough of his new comfort with them. I found myself smiling softly at the sight. I looked back up at Newgate.

"Really," I said while my brothers were distracted. "Thank you. The brat would have killed himself eventually if he stayed on his own, I'm glad to know he has a good crew and captain looking out for him now," I bowed my head.

"YOU'RE ONLY TEN MINUTES OLDER THAN ME YOU STUPID HAG!" Ace yelled, untangling himself from Sabo (who was now laughing unashamedly at our age-old argument) and jumping up to tackle me again. This time, though, I didn't let him and stepped back to land a Haki-coated elbow on his back. When he landed harshly on the ground, I put two hands behind my back and smiled sweetly at him.

"That makes _two_ people who call you 'brat' _and_ can beat you in less than five seconds," I teased, startling a laugh out of Whitebeard.

"Gurararara!" His laugh shocked me, making me flinch and look up at him with wide eyes, but slowly a smirk spread over my face as my surprise wore away.

"Why you—!" Ace snarled as he looked up at me, though there was humor in his eyes.

"Stop, you'll give your new crew flashbacks," I teased again, this time making more of the crew laugh at Ace's expense.

"Stupid hag!" He cursed as aimed a punch at my face. Still smiling, I easily dodged under it and caught his other fist, which had also been aimed at me, with my right hand. Of course, sheathed in Haki to combat his logia powers. I swiped a leg at his ankles, making him jump up to avoid it. I used the chance to also jump up, using my strength to flip the both of us over in midair and shove his back into the deck. I grinned at him, getting off and stretching my arms.

"You _must_ have been relaxing lately. Or maybe I've just been improving a lot faster than you, you usually make me work for my wins."

"Gurara! You're pretty strong for a brat," the deep voice of Whitebeard once again stole my attention. "You don't see many girls with battle axes walking around. Did you want to join with your brother?"

I held up my hands, shaking my head. "Unfortunately, I'm the only person capable of leading the Hopeless Pirates right now," I told him, slowly dropping my arms. "My crew isn't like any that you've met before. I can promise you that," I said, taking a deep breath. "But I'd appreciate it if you would let us stay in the area for a day two, just to spend time with Ace before we take off again. I have a dancer that would appreciate an audience, too, if you guys would allow a few of my crew mates on board."

—*—*—*—*—*

Synalla was a hit. Her dancing garnered a lot of attention from the largely male crew who spent more time on sea than they did on land with any chance of seeing women. Most of the Original Hopeless crew was allowed on. Raz was talking to the doctors and nurses on board, which I was surprised to see that Deuce was a part of. Synalla, of course, was dancing in the center of the Moby Dick for everyone to watch. Katie was relaxing on the side of the ship and chatting with a few more laid back people, like Marco and Thatch. Though, she had started casually holding one of her daggers in her hand and letting loose the term: " _First Mate,"_ every now and then, so I guessed that Thatch was likely hitting on her. Yalla and Kilik stayed on the Dying Dream with the rest of our crew, and Lin was sparring with some of the Whitebeard's brawlers. She had even had a round against Ace, which had led to several rematches. They decided to stop at five, with my brother just _barely_ managing to win three to two.

"Go Lin!" I shouted, pumping my fist in the air cheerfully from where I sat near Whitebeard. It was only right, considering we were the two Captains of the crews that were mingling. Despite the vast difference in our strengths, it was proper etiquette for me to stay near Whitebeard as a gesture of our mutual respect and trust. The short green-eyed girl was on the man's back, arm around his neck and her heels digging into his vulnerable sides.

"She's rather vicious, isn't she?" Newgate spoke, sounding amused. I chuckled with a nod.

"Ah. Her nickname is Rabid Linral because of her fighting style," I replied, my lips twisted up slightly as I kept half my attention on the Yonko and half on my crewmate.

"I'm curious about how they can all be so calm," he remarked as he sipped from a large cup of sake. I lifted the cup that I also had, taking a sip of my own. "Usually pirates with less than a hundred million bounty nearly pass out when they see the Moby Dick, much less meet any of us on it. You, I understand. You're a lot like your brother. But them?"

"My crew might not be the most famous or the strongest," I said slowly, turning my head to meet his gaze. "But they are undoubtedly the hardest crew in the world to intimidate."

"Oh?" Whatever Whitebeard has been about to reply with was interrupted when I heard the sound of something— somebody— falling. I tensed, and both of our heads shot to see what it was. As soon as we did, I stood up.

Lin had been celebrating her victory, and now she was on the ground with a small puddle of blood around her mouth.

"What happened?" Whitebeard asked, voice dark. He probably suspected that I would get angry or turn the event against him, but he didn't have to worry. I held up a hand, catching his attention. People's heads shot up to look at me.

"Raz. Take Lin back to the Dying Dream. Synalla, help him carry her. Did anyone see her right before she passed out?" I expected Newgate to interrupt me for how I was clearly taking control of the situation, but be probably let it slide since it was my crew member that was affected rather than his. A large swordsman, Vista if I remembered correctly, stepped forward with a nod.

"She stopped in the middle of boasting and started muffling a few coughs. We tried to see what was wrong, but she pushed us all away. Then she just dropped, and more blood fell from her mouth after she landed," the man explained. I took a slow breath, nodding. I heard footsteps, and turned to see Katie walking to stand by my side.

My grey eyes met her sapphire ones, and I put a hand on her shoulder. "Go. I'll explain things here," I said softly. Katie was the only member other than myself who had been part of the crew when Lin had joined.

I felt cold. Colder than I had ever felt before. Colder than when the apes back on Hawkeye's island had tried to break Stormfall. But I welcomed the cold. It allowed me to ignore the panic that wanted to bubble up, the panic that I couldn't allow to grip me. I didn't even react when Sabo and Ace each put a hand on one of my shoulders.

I was Usurper Maven, Captain of the Hopeless Pirates, and I was on another crew's ship in front of _their_ Captain. Tragedy or not, I would show no weakness.

I looked up into Whitebeard's tense eyes, and bowed slightly.

My emotions could wait.

My panic could wait.

I had a job to do.

"I probably should have told you about this earlier," I admitted softly once I straightened up. "But I hope you'll understand that it is not a fact I want very many people to be aware of. I'd like to ask, before I tell you anything, that anything I say from now on stays within the people here on there Moby Dick," I made sure to stand at my full height, not shying away from the larger man in the slightest. After a long, tense, silent moment, Edward Newgate nodded.

"What has just happened is due to the nature of the Hopeless Pirates. It is the reason that not a single member is likely to ever leave to join another crew. Because there are only two requirements to join; the First is that every member has a dream they are willing to chase until they die. The second is that they have a terminal illness," I could feel the air still. "Every last member is dying. Presumed a hopeless case by every doctor they've ever been examined by. I am the only person that can give them their last adventure, I am the only person who can bring them closer to their dreams. Because they will only follow a Captain in the same position as them."

"Brat…" Whitebeard said slowly, never once moving his eyes away from mine. "Your brother said your nickname is Usurper Maven… those filthy Marines have a dark sense of humor."

I nodded, allowing a very small smirk onto my face even though I knew it didn't reach my eyes. "Yes, well. If people knew that Usurper Maven was dying from Usurper's Syndrome, they wouldn't very well take me seriously, would they? But here I am. Celebrating my seventeenth year of survival, and my fourteenth year since beating the previous survival record set by Gol D. Roger. I'm not dying anytime soon, I can promise you that," I took a breath. "Once I get word back from—"

"Maven," that was Yalla, tears running down her face. I froze, knowing they would never send her to deliver the news. She came on her own, using her ribbon-ribbon powers to catapult her faster than our crew members would have been able to catch her. She stood there on the side of the Moby Dick, face stained with rivers of tears and her yellow eyes saturated with grief. Her arms were still extended into ribbons, she hadn't bothered retracting them and they still swept the wood at her feet. "Lin is—"

I nodded, my mouth turning down into a frown as I did my best to suppress my emotions again. Not yet. My nod had only made Yalla let loose a new stream of tears, and I turned to bow woodenly to Whitebeard one more time.

"Her Dream was to fight the best brawlers in the world before she died," my voice filled the room, as if my throat decided to fill the whole boat with Linral's dream despite me not having been trying to raise my voice. "Thank you, for fighting her and bringing her as close to that dream as she had ever been. I'm afraid I have to leave," I straightened up, and Whitebeard grunted.

"Go, Brat. Bury your sister."

—*—*—*—*—*

I sat in the infirmary. Even Raz had left the room, leaving me alone with her body. I felt the tears drip down my cheeks all at once, spilling over as I released me hold on them. It would be a month before we could reach Hopeless Island. Raz had already injected her body with special preservatives so that she didn't… no. I refused to think of her in the same terms as overripe food.

But the eternal post in my pocket had never felt heavier.

I reached forward with sobs threatening to choke me, running a hand through her soft grey hair. She had never let me style it, always cutting it before it grew too long. I turned to the piece of paper sitting on her chest.

_Rabid Linral. Wanted Dead or Alive. Forty-nine million belly._

_Lin ran towards me after I had gotten Sabo to drink a few mugs of rum. She was waving a paper in the air. "New bounties, Maven! Look, I'm only one million away from the big Fifty Million mark! And I look so GOOD in this picture too!"_

I picked up the poster, taking in the last photo of Lin's living self. She was doing a single handed handstand on a marine's head, her thumb in the guy's eye. Each leg held a guy in the air by their neck, by her free hand was in the middle of breaking another marine's nose. Her eyes were lit with that ferocious, burning _life_ that always filled her when she fought. Her teeth were bared in a snarl-like smile.

It really _was_ a good picture. I rolled it up so I wouldn't get my tears on it and ruin the image of her while she was still thriving and happy, and not a quickly stiffening corpse on a cot.

_Katie looked up at me as I boarded the Dying Dream, her normally clear blue eyes raw and red, her nose running and her gold hair ruffled and tangled from how often she had been running her hands through it. She sniffed and slowly led me down to the infirmary._

" _She said she wanted me to tell you thank you," Katie's voice was just as raw and damaged as the rest of her, coming out as more of a croak than speech. "She had fun brawling against the Whitebeards. She never thought she'd be able to do that," Katie pressed her palms against her eyes, trying to stop more tears from falling when she was already so worn out. "She said… she said to tell you that is was really fun. And that… that you'll always be her captain."_

"Lin, Raz spiked your soup again," I whispered, my voice squeaking as I tried to force it out from my clogged throat. There was no reaction from her. "I think it'll make you smell like hotdogs… or maybe it will… turn your face Sakura-patterned… or.." my tears dropped onto her cold skin, falling down her shoulder to land on the bed. She didn't react. She didn't react because she was dead. She was dead, and I couldn't get her to Trafalgar Law in time, and what kind of Captain _was I_ if I didn't prioritize curing my crewmates?!

I should have hunted him down. I should stayed in Paradise and hunted him down as soon as news came that he entered the Grand Line. I should have… I should have…

But I didn't, and she was gone. Linral was right in front of me, but she was _gone._ I could lift one of her eyelids, but I'd never see them filled with the furious energy of a rabid animal anymore, with the burning, scorching _life_ that had so quickly drawn me to her back when we met when facing Alvida. I'd never see her jerk in worry when Raz was up for his turn to make dinner. I'd never…

"Maven?" A soft voice interrupted my thoughts from the door. I looked up to see Kilik, just as worn down as everybody else. "There are pirates firing at us."

There were? Oh… now that I focused, I felt the boat sway and could hear the boom of cannons. "Let the Hope crew take care of it—"

" _Can I get first jump on them, Maven? Please, please?! I wanna see if they have any good fighters on board!"_

I choked, covering my mouth and squeezing my eyes shut. No, that hadn't actually been Lin. Just what I knew she would have said if she had still been there. Still been _alive._

"Maven?"

"A-ah… let the Hope crew take care of it, and anyone else who wants to let loose. Tell them they have permission to go crazy—" a thought met my head. "Wait!" Kilik stopped, opening the door again to look at me. "New rule. For a month after every death in the crew, we will have a Requiem to celebrate that member. For the next month, everybody is forbidden to use weapons. Only exception are cannons for emergencies. Tell Gino and Cala to go nuts."

"Aye, Maven," Kilik said, making me choke out another sob.

I looked back at Lin once Kilik had left and I heard the trap door close above us. I swallowed past a lump in my throat.

"See?" I whispered, putting a hand on Lin's cheek. "See? We're not forgetting you. Not ever. For the whole month until we reach Hopeless Island, we'll be fighting like you. With our hands and feet and claws and elbows," my hand clenched in her shirt, and I found myself leaning forward to see if she still smelled like lavender and sweat. It usually annoyed me, but now I took comfort in the lingering scent that came from her, the lingering reminder that she had been _alive._ "We'll name the next ship we get the Dying Rabid. And we'll try to find more brawlers to recruit, just for you. You always wanted more on board. A-and the Dying Rabid will have a bright, emerald green stripe around it, green like your eyes. And the black sails will be silver instead, like your hair. And—" a crinkle interrupted me, making me realize I had been wrinkling her bounty poster. I gasped, hurriedly straightening it out. It was the very same one she had waved and presented to me just a few days earlier, two days before we had reached the Moby Dick.

And then I realized, I never wanted to let the poster go. Lin had been so _proud_ of it. She had held it. She had shown it off to me with one of the largest smiles on her face and joy making her eyes sparkle like real emeralds. I would keep it. It was her last bounty.

I'd keep it.

I stood up, opening drawers in Raz's desk without mercy, not caring about the mess I made. And I saw it.

" _Lin is going to need glasses soon, especially if she keeps letting people punch her face," Raz said blandly. I had caught him leaving a glasses store. "So I bought a simple prescription. It should work, she won't need anything strong for a while. But don't tell her, I want her to come up to me once her vision worsens and ask me for some herself."_

I took the glasses case up, running my hand over the curvy L that was imprinted on the hard material. Raz didn't want to admit it back then, but he had bought the case because he knew that Lin would like that the L was green on the otherwise black box. She had taken a lot of pride in her brightly colored eyes. I opened it, taking the glasses out and throwing them in the wastebasket under the desk with no hesitation, going back to sit next to Lin. With as much care as I could manage, I folded her bounty poster in half and rolled it up, fitting it easily inside the glasses case.

I held it in my hands. As soon as we made a quick supply stop at an island, I'd buy shorts with deep pockets. That way I could always carry the case with me.

—*—*—*—*—*

I held the shovel in my sweaty hands, shoving it into the dirt with one last sigh. I looked up.

"Six feet deep!" I said, the top of my head coming even with the top of the hole. I was a convenient measuring stick for the proper depth of a grave.

The irony.

I pulled my sweaty, dirt-flecked body up, turning to lean against the olive tree only a few feet behind the newly dug grave. Gino came by then, carrying a huge stone that he had broken off with his bare hands. He set it on the ground, nodding to me. I took a breath, drawing Stormfall and getting into position on the side of the stone. I held the blade towards the ground in position for me to swing it upwards and yelled;

"BURIAL SWEEP!" My blade swept upward through the air, sending an attack from its Haki-coated surface that cut straight through the stone, leaving a perfectly flat surface. Katie took my place, costing her daggers in Haki and engraving on the rock.

When it was done, I lifted it with one hand and placed it firmly at the head of the grave. Kilik and Synalla came next, carrying the grey casket with emerald green spirals over, slowly lowering it.

"Ribbon-ribbon: Pretty Farewell," Yalla murmured, her arms stretching into large ribbons and sweeping the pile of dirt I had dug up over the grave and casket.

The entire crew, new and old, Hope and Dream, stood looking over the grave. I was the closest, Katie and Raz at my sides with Kilik and Yalla directly behind us.

"Rabid Linral. The most ferocious, vicious, savage brawler to ever sail the Grand Line. The most vividly _alive_ person I have ever met. The most loyal Nakama I could ask for. Positive and always fluidly able to get over anything that tried to drag her down. But life decided to be a major goddamned _asshole_ —" weak chuckled sounded behind me, "— because it decided to take her away. But we knew it would happen. She was a Hopeless case just like the rest of us. It doesn't make it hurt any less. But she didn't live alone, and she didn't die alone, so we did our job," I closed my eyes. "Once a member of the Hopeless Pirates, _always_ a member. Even if you leave, even if you're cured, even if you die. You are always one of us. We will join you again one day, Lin. All of us, here on this island where we will never be torn apart again. So wait for us. Wait for us Lin, and we'll sail again together. I promise," tears dropped onto the soil under us. "I promise."

I walked back to the Dying Dream, two familiar figures who had decided to stand back for my sake waiting for me. I put my fedora, which had been clutched in my hand, on my head. I was a little cracked right then. Not quite broken, but close. My brothers would help me glue that crack back together.

" _Rabid" Linral_

_Age 18 at death_

" _I can take down five men at once without breaking a sweat! But the thought of leaving the Hopeless Pirates terrifies me and leaves my hands clammy."_

_She didn't die alone._

Nailed to the tombstone was an eternal post with an engraving of the words "Hopeless Island" in the bottom rim.

—*—*—*—*—*

**Omake**

_After Maven shipwrecked_

"Oi, oi!" Lin called, eyes furrowed as she pointed one arm at Katie and leaned over the steering wheel with her other. "What do you mean, we can't fight?!"

Katie raised a slender blonde eyebrow, easily meeting her Nakama's gaze. The two bickered like an old married couple, but they were each other's closest friends.

"We need to get to Sabaody as quickly as possible so we can return with an Eternal post for it when we meet Maven again," the First Mate said calmly. She was really starting to hate being the acting captain in Maven's absence.

"BUT THEY SURROUNDED US!" Lin shouted, waving her hands at the five marine ships currently around them, and the marine officers yelling that them to surrender at the bows.

"It's just Hina," Katie said with a wave. "Yalla can just wrap all of their harpoons up and send them back, easy peasy. And if she tried to board—"

"IF SHE TRIES TO BOARD, I CALL DIBS!" Lin immediately yelled, raising her arm in the air. "DIBS! SHE'S GOOD AT HAND TO HAND! DIBS!"

" _Okay_ already!" Katie rubbed her temples. "You know Haki, anyway. Fine. Hina is yours is she tried to board. But we will _not_ go out of our way to fight them, got— LIN!"

Lin was on top of the middle Cerberus Head, leveling a finger at Hina. "HEAR THAT, BITCH?! IF YOU DARE TRY TO GET ON BOARD, YOU'LL HAVE TO FIGHT ME! I BET YOU'RE SCARED NOW, AREN'T YOU?! COWAAAAAAARD~"

Katie slumped over the steering wheel, letting out a moan of despair. "Mavennn," she groaned. "Come back alreadyyyyyy!"

**End omake.**

— ***—*—*—*—***

**Omake**

_Somewhere in the New World_

"DWAHAHAHAHAHA!" A red haired captain leaned back, holding a newspaper in front of him, pointing to a picture for his friends and crew members. Yasopp leaned forward to see what the big deal was, and his eyebrows shot up as he let loose a whistle.

"Maven _said_ he should expect the unexpected! DWAHAHAHAHA! And he ended up joining instead of killing him! DWAHAHAHAHA!" Shanks's bellowing laughter echoed around the whole area. "I think that girl is more dangerous than we thought!"

"You're telling _us,"_ Yasopp agreed, arms crossed. "With the smile she had back then, I have a feeling she knew this exact thing was going to happen."

"Perhaps I should adjust my evaluation," Beckman spoke up. "She isn't just more observant than Ace. She is much more insightful than we thought. She probably knows something about Ace's personality that we don't and figured that Whitebeard was a Captain he'd accept."

"Dwahahaha!" Shanks held up his full cup of Sake. "To interesting new people! This calls for a party!"

_End Omake_

—*—*—*—*—*

**I bawled out my eyes when I originally wrote this chapter, so you aren’t alone if you cried lol. Lin was probably my favorite of my OCs, but this was just what I decided was the best order for it to start with. :(**


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The recovery.

"Maven, you need to eat," Synalla said, always the doting mother of the group just because she was one of the older members at twenty-five. She pushed a bowl of regular and Thunder Mangos at me, even some Blood Oranges that she knew I loved.

I looked at the bowl. It was normal sized, much smaller than anything I'd normally eat from when fruit was concerned.

I pushed it away.

"Maven," that was Sabo. "It's been a month. You should at least eat fruit again, it's your _favorite_ ," He was looking at me with furrowed eyebrows, not quite sure how to help me with my grief but trying his best. I had been almost nothing but silence and tears during the month that we spent getting to Hopeless Island, punctuated by orders to the crew and fits of abnormal levels of violence whenever we were approached by enemy pirates or marines. I exercised even more than before, knowing Lin wouldn't forgive me if I let myself waste away in the wake of her death.

Bad Maven, no death puns.

But now that she was buried and Hopeless Island had just faded into the distance? I wasn't sad anymore. I really wasn't. She wasn't there on the ship to witness me anymore, so I got up my chair and went to the deck. My brothers followed me, curious to see what I would do now that I was no longer crying or sulking.

The answer? I picked up a crate with one hand, and _threw it_ straight at the wall of the kitchen. The crate smashed open, creating a boom that made my crew look over at me with wide eyes. I hardly ever lost my temper, not like this. Not destructively.

"FUCK IT ALL!" I screamed, hands in my hair. "I'M FUCKING _PISSED_ AT MYSELF!" That caused my brothers to freeze for a moment before they both ran over to me, trying to grab one of my arms to keep me from ripping out my hair. I didn't even have my fedora on. I threw my arms back, trying to keep them from grabbing or keeping hold of me.

"Maven," Ace glared at me. Whitebeard had allowed him to come after me two weeks after we set sail, he was able to catch up easily with his fire-run boat, in order to comfort me. During those two weeks he had been with me, he hadn't known how to comfort me. He didn't do well with tears, but he knew that smacking me over my head wouldn't work like it would with Luffy.

He still did it, but only twice.

Now that I was angry, though? He knew how to handle anger.

"Maven, get a damned handle on yourself!" He roared. "You are in front of your crew!" He waved a hand to indicate the staring Pirates. "A Captain shouldn't lose complete control of themselves in front of their crew!"

"A Captain?" I asked softly, glaring at him. "A _real_ Captain, a _good_ Captain, would have chased after Trafalagar Law! I should have! Lin was the only god damned person in this crew that had any chance of being cured! Law's Ope Ope no mi could have saved her _life!"_ I started pacing, my hands moving rapidly through the air in angry gestures. "I should stayed in Paradise and waited until I got word that Law entered the Grand Line. And then I should have _hunted him down!_ I should never have lost track of my priorities! I should have hunted him down and begged him to cure her, because damn it! What kind of Captain am I if I can't take care of my crew?!" I was breathing heavily, my entire body trembling in my anger. "She was the only one of us who had a chance to be cured, but she ended up being the first body we buried because I'M AN IDIOT! I'm an idiot who got sucked up in the adventure of the Grand Line and forgot about where my priorities should lay! And now I buried one of my _best friends_ , I buried one of my _Nakama,_ because I'm an incompetent imbecile of a captain!"

Ace stood in front of me, arms crossed as he stared into my eyes. "Good," He said simply. "You know that you made a mistake. Now stop feeling sorry for yourself, Idiot Captain, and do something about it," his harsh tone made me take a breath, anchoring me. "First off, why don't you ask your crew if they mind serving an 'Incompetent imbecile,' like you," he nodded his head towards the crew on the Dying Dream, who were staring at me with tight lips and hard eyes.

"You really _are_ an idiot," Katie spoke up, making me stiffen as I prepared myself to hear the worst. "Especially if you think that anyone on this ship or the Dying Hope would ever even _consider_ following a Captain other than you until the day you decide to leave this crew to go have your own adventure," My First Mate said firmly.

"None of us thought to go after Trafalgar Law," Raz added, his own arms crossed and his voice stern instead of bored. "You stress that everyone in this crew are _friends_ with one another, not boxed into rankings. Any one of us could have asked you, even _once,_ to stay in Paradise and go after Law, and you would have listened. You're not a captain who exercises absolute authority very often. You listen to us. You know that you don't think of everything, you know that you're not perfect. All it would have taken was _one_ of us to bring up Law, and we would have stayed right here in Paradise looking for him on your orders."

"Not even Lin remembered Trafalgar Law after we entered the Grand Line," Kilik spoke up, his usual humor nowhere to be seen. "If she didn't ask you, then you have no reason to beat yourself up over it. We _all_ got caught up in the adventure. Maybe if you can get your head out of your self pity, you'll see that we all share the blame for her death," Kilik said with a sigh.

"You said that one reason the Hopeless Pirates exist is so that we can forget that we're sick. That we're dying," Yalla spoke up. She was thirteen now, but she had hadn't matured quite as much after her thirteenth birthday as she did after Lin's death. She was a little quieter now, and she spoke more maturely. "Lin forgot. She was here, on these ships with people who are dying just like her. People who hardly ever talked about her disease, who never looked at her with pity or worry, who looked at her with wide smiles for how she fought. She forgot she was sick, here. She forgot she was dying, just like you wanted her to. Just like you want all of us to," Yalla walked up, hugging me around the waist. "You're our Captain. Always. Because nobody else would have allowed us to forget, and I know Lin is glad that _she_ was able to, even if only for a while."

"See, Hag?" Ace asked, smiling softly at me. "A bad captain wouldn't have such loyalty from their crew, idiot. Even great captains make mistakes."

"Like trying to fight Whitebeard when you're hopelessly outmatched?" I spoke up weakly, giving him a lopsided smile. He choked on air, glaring at me playfully.

"Now that you're done with your outburst," Synalla cut in, carrying a small bowl of fruit on one hand and a Maven-sized bowl of fruit in the other. "Will you _please_ eat? The newer crew members might have a collective heart attack if you don't eat at least _one_ fruit today."

I took the Maven-sized bowl, starting to shove fruit into my face one at a time. "I'm starving!"

Sabo laughed, walking over to throw a hand over my shoulder. "There's our sister again! Good to have you back."

I slapped his hand away from where it was trying to grab a mango. "I spent too long sulking anyway," I said slowly, my eyebrows furrowing. I still didn't feel very good, but… "If Lin could, she'd have tackled me by now for not moving forward already. After all," I took a deep breath. "I have a crew to lead still. A little more than a year and a half until I have to leave and go join Luffy. And this whole crew is dying, that _is_ the main defining factor of the Hopeless Pirates in the first place," I took Stormfall off my back, looking down at my reflection in the violet metal. "Lin is just the start. The next year and a half will see at least one more grave on Hopeless Island, and I have to be ready to deal with that when it comes. The Hopeless Pirates is bigger than me now. By the time I become Luffy's First Mate, this whole crew will be secretly known as a dying person's last hope if they want to be more than a corpse until they really die. I can't keep this small like Luffy will keep his crew. I need to spread the hope as far as I can. So we'll keep having adventures. We'll keep getting members. And people will know who we are."

"And you can't do that if you're sulking," Ace agreed with his signature smirk. "Alright! Now that you're all emotionally stable again, I'll head off tomorrow back to the Moby Dick," he tipped his hat slightly forward over his face, then turned to my crew. "Ah. I didn't think I had to say this before, but could you take care of Maven for us?" He nodded his head to indicate a grinning Sabo.

"Our big sister has always been taking care of us," Sabo added, his scar wrinkling as he grinned. "We kinda forgot how much of a handful she can be because of that."

"So she might wear you guys down, but look out for her, will you?" Ace finished. I deadpanned at the two of them.

"How long did you guys have to rehearse that?" I teased dryly, but I was ignored.

"Sure!" My crew chorused. I grumbled about traitors as I fought a smile and enjoyed the last of my large bowl of fruit.

I waited until Ace was in the kitchen alone scavenging for food, joining him there and locking the door. He peeked up at the sound of the lock clicking, and turned to see if there was any danger. Seeing it was just me, he furrowed his brows and sat down as he held a huge hunk of meat in one hand.

"What?" He asked, trying hard to keep himself from eating the food in his hand that he had stolen. I sat down in front of him at the table, going over the other thing that had been distracting me over the past month. With my priorities set straight again, I remembered that Ace only had to chase down Blackbeard in the future because he killed Thatch (who I liked despite his flirting). That meant that there was someone else destined to die that I had the potential to save. I wouldn't miss my opportunity this time, I was determined to make sure of it.

"... What I'm about to say is going to sound really weird and you'll probably want to laugh at me," I said softly, my hands clenched on the table in front of me. My twin looked down at them, taking a bite of his food as he registered that my fists were trembling. He swallowed, and locked eyes with me to show that he was listening. "I need you to take me seriously, okay? I wouldn't bring this up if I wasn't convinced that it was important. So please, listen, okay?"

Ace nodded, his usually relaxed gaze pinned on me in earnest. "You don't get worked up like this over nothing. I'm listening."

I nodded, taking a deep breath as I settled on the best way to go about what I was about to do. "I've been having a recurring dream lately. Again, I wouldn't bring this up if I didn't think it was important. I've had it since before you even ran to try to take down Whitebeard. In the dream, Thatch gets killed by… I can't make out who. It's just a huge shadow. But he gets killed, for a _devil fruit_. A stupid devil fruit, of all things, but it happens the same way every time I have the dream," I knew I couldn't tell Ace that it was Teach. Teach was still a long time member of the Whitebeards, and Ace would trust him. But if I didn't mention who would kill Thatch, then Ace would be more likely to take my warning seriously. "It's purple. A purple devil fruit, but that's all I can make out," I looked up to see Ace holding the naked bone of the chunk of meat he had been eating a moment earlier, still looking straight at me as I trailed off. He set the bone down with a heavy sigh.

"So you think that it's actually going to happen? Thatch is going to be killed for a purple devil fruit?" I could tell he didn't quite believe me, but he wasn't outright dismissing me either. He knew I didn't get riled up over something like dreams, even nightmares were something I easily got over. And I had nightmares a lot, especially growing up. Nightmares of dying, of not being able to save Ace at Marineford… but I knew that Ace had never seen me so serious about a dream before. It was making him think rather than dismiss it.

"I know it sounds stupid," I leaned closer to him, I could feel the desperation leak into my eyes. "But I could see how close you are to him. Normally I wouldn't care much if someone I didn't know very well died, but you _like_ Thatch. I don't want to see what might happen to you if he _does_ die. I don't…" I clenched my jaw and looked down at the table. I jolted in surprise when Ace's slightly meat-greasy hand came to cover my fists gently.

"You don't want me to feel what you went through yesterday, burying Lin," he whispered, and even though it was a statement I still nodded to confirm it. His hand tightened over my fists for a moment. "Okay. You're intuition helped save Grey Terminal all those years ago. And it's saved our asses several times since then. Hell, your intuition even tried to warn me about what would happen if I tried attacking Pops," he chuckled at the memory, but used his other hand to tilt my head to look him in the eye. "I'll listen this time. I'm not all that smart, but even _I'm_ not stupid enough to ignore you when you're almost in tears about something like this," he poked my cheek. "Tears of _frustration,_ too. I'll keep an eye out for a purple devil fruit, and I'll tell Thatch and the guys that you heard something about someone going after devil fruits. I'll try to get them to move in pairs, if that'll help? Not sure if they'll listen to the newbie, but…"

"Then wait a month or two," I interrupted, making him blink at me. "I don't think it will happen right away, but who knows when I'll be able to see you again. Wait until they trust you more, and then warn Thatch and your closer friends. Before the end of the year though, yeah? Better to be safe."

Ace rolled his eyes, picking my fedora up from where it was resting on the back of a chair and pushing it on my head so that it covered my eyes. "Yeah, okay, _mom_ ," he teased. "Focus on your own crew now, you've already warned me. I'll look out for Thatch, but _I'm_ not a Captain anymore. You still are."

I let out a short laugh. "Yeah," I agreed as I stood up. "Yeah, I'll get back to that. Thanks for listening, Ace."

I was already out the door, but I was able to just barely make out as he mumbled;

"Thanks for being there for me, Maven."

—*—*—*—*—*

Raz didn't volunteer to make dinner. Usually he volunteered on Fridays and Tuesdays, but he had decided not to for a month. Maven has her suspicions as to why, as did most of the crew. But nobody voiced them. The two guests Ace and Sabo, along with the bunny mink that was new to the crew still, had no idea that anything was wrong. Indeed, it seemed to them as if things were finally starting to go back to normal after a long period of grieving.

But Raz knew better, if only because he was the source of one of the remaining oddities that told of mourning still happening. He wasn't much of an expressive guy, couldn't be if he wanted to continue surviving. That's what he had been doing before that day that a little grey-headed girl came bursting into his house yelling that her friend was sick, had a serious immune disorder, and needed care. Before that girl got down on her knees and begged for them to help her friend get better, he had only been surviving day to day. Immersing himself in the therapeutic world of herbal medicine, studying new concoctions and dreaming of the Grand Line that he thought would be forever out of his reach.

But that girl, she coughed up blood as she begged them to save her friend. When he asked her what she was doing, asking them to treat somebody else when she was clearly seriously sick too, she just replied that she was used to dying and Katie needed more immediate attention than she did.

Raz had never quite had the urge to simultaneously praise and slap a person before. Praise, because this girl was clearly brave and selfless. Slap, because she needed to take better care of herself if she wanted to help anyone else in the future. So he had dragged her off to give her a full checkup while they waited for the mysterious "Maven," person to bring the sick friend "Katie" for them to take care of.

And Raz had no idea how the girl was still walking around so easily with such late stage cancer. Even when he met Maven later on and learned of the new captain's Usurper Syndrome, he still felt as if Linral was the one whose desire to live burned hotter. Maven's willpower was nothing to scoff at, of course, but any lesser person in Linral's condition would have bedridden and moaning in agony. But the grey-headed girl barely seemed to even acknowledge what he body was going through, had gotten so used to the pain that it barely registered anymore. And Raz found himself wanting to do anything he could to see her eyes fill with the life that had no business being there still.

He had always been a bit of a prankster. All those harshly contained emotions needed some sort of outlet, of course. But he found that pranking Linral was one of his favorite things to do. And he always called her Linral, not Lin, because her life was already burning on a short enough wick. Nothing else about her needed shortening.

So now, without her, he was off balance. He turned to say a quip about her that he had spent the morning thinking up, only to realize that she wasn't there to get angry anymore. To lose the temper he couldn't lose. To show all the harsh, exciting emotions that he couldn't allow himself. She was no longer there to live as freely as he wished he could. He enjoyed watching her, like someone stuck in a wheelchair with broken legs might enjoy watching soccer. It was like torture, but at the same time he enjoyed seeing her able to do everything he couldn't allow himself.

And now the game was over. She was gone, and her life that he enjoyed watching so much was gone with it. Pranking other people was never as fun as pranking Lin, so he couldn't bring himself to do it yet. He had let himself love her, in a way, though he had never dared voice it because it would have been a bittersweet thing that would have hurt them more than comfort. Pranking other people so close to her death still felt like cheating on her though.

Raz found himself sticking close to Maven. She was a lot like Linral to him, though there were plenty of differences that allowed him to think of her as more of a family member than a romantic interest like Linral had been. He could tell that she sensed his suppressed turmoil, because she never asked him if he had anything else he rather be doing like she usually did when she caught him watching her exercise. She would just look at him, offer him a lopsided and understanding smile, and set down her weight to talk to him.

Yes. Maven was younger than him, but she felt like a mother or an older sister. She felt older than she was, and that was odd to Raz. He wasn't usually the kind of man that relied on comfort from others, not even his real parents, but Maven made him feel safe. He was pretty sure that she had that effect on the whole crew, that was more than likely part of the reason they trusted her so wholeheartedly and remained so loyal to the crew.

Yes. Maven was comfort and pure determination, where Linral had been pure life and emotion. Those were the defining differences between the two. Different, but neither any weaker than the other. Raz still found himself wishing that brighter-burning candles wouldn't burn out so much faster than the others.

—*—*—*—*—*

"Raz, could you help Gino bring over Ace's boat?"

"Do you honestly think that sharp-toothed idiot needs my help? He can lift more than you can most of the time, Mom," I saw the moment that everyone on the boat froze as Raz finished speaking. Slowly, I turned wide eyes onto my doctor. And, yes, he knew exactly what he had just said and he didn't look like it had been a mistake in the least.

"Wh— What did you just call me, Raz?" I asked slowly, feeling caught off guard still. "That didn't even have sarcasm in it. Then again, it's hard to tell with you, _was_ it sar—"

"Nope, I was being serious," the doctor interrupted. "The past month has made me realize that you're like a mom. And since I can no longer annoy Linral to her wit's end, I'm substituting by calling you Momma Maven."

"Woah, back it up. Where did that train of thought start, and should I be worried that it _did_?" I asked, ignoring my snickering brothers behind me. Honestly, couldn't Raz have waited to do _—whatever_ the hell this was— until _after_ Ace was gone?

"How could you not notice it? I'm sure everyone else has, even the Hope crew," he nodded to our second ship nearby, which was within earshot and had everyone on it listening raptly with grins on their faces. "You comforted everyone else in the crew before going off to mope on your own, right after Linral died. You still put aside your training to comfort anyone who looks like they're crying or sulking. By the way, as your doctor I have to suggest you _stop_ doing that. Anyway, you always go out of your way to protect us even if we can defend ourselves— again, as your doctor I have to suggest you _stop_ that habit sooner rather than later— and if one of us is in danger you tend to get incredibly overprotective. Therefore; Momma Maven."

"I like it," Katie teased as she leaned against the railing, sapphire eyes twinkling.

"Momma Maven!" Yalla giggled, and even the Hope Crew started teasingly chanting: _Momma Maven, Momma Maven._

"Okay, that's gonna stop _now!"_ I said sternly, glaring at all of my playful crewmates. "This is not the Moby Dick, and I am _obviously_ not Whitebeard, so there will be _no_ parental nicknames!"

"M-m-Momma…" Ace was unable to breathe through his laughter, barely able to even get out a coherent word as he guffawed behind me.

"M-m-Maven… is a… Momma!" Sabo wheezed out, suffering through a similar laughter-induced lack of oxygen as he and Ace were doubled over, an arm around each other's shoulder, as they cackled in glee. Twitching in annoyance, I spun around to land a Nami-inspired punch to both of their heads.

Not even the giant bump it made could stop their laughter.

"Gah!" I threw my hands up as Kilik came over, slinging a hand over my shoulder.

"Ah, it's not so bad, _mom_ ," he said with a wicked smirk on his face. His cinnamon-brown hair tickled as he leaned his head on mine, looking up at me with puppydog eyes. "Can I get a bigger allowance? I want to buy a special ore…"

Kilik was the next one to get punched.

"Honestly!" I said again in exasperation. "Synalla is the mother figure!" I waved me arm to the long necked woman, who was covering her mouth to suppress her own giggles. "She always takes care of me when I'm sad and coddles everyone sometimes—"

"She's Granny Synalla," Raz interrupted in a _very_ deadpan tone that did nothing to stop the laughter that was still ringing through the air. I felt my eyebrow tick in annoyance. "She does all the chores and nitpicks our bad decisions in life. She's the grandmother. She also constantly spouts nonsense about proper behavior for a lady and how there isn't enough femininity in our crew. Perhaps her new nickname should be Hag?"

"You are lucky I can't hit you, Doctor," Synalla seethed from where she suddenly was behind him, her nearly five-foot long neck making her dwarf him completely. Her straight black hair, nearly as long as her neck, acted like a curtain that cast an ominous shadow over Raz, who remained unaffected.

"Be careful, if you breathe or laugh too hard you'll exacerbate your already weak lungs," he warned her. She had a condition that was deteriorating her lungs from the inside out. Like most of the crew, it was a bodily function that the body saw as normal instead of a life threatening issue, so there was no way to stop it that was discovered yet. It made me more drawn to her, since it created similar symptoms to the asthma that had killed me in my last life.

Synalla took a slow breath, walking away as she tried to calm herself down. She nearly bent her flexible neck in half as she retreated to the kitchen.

Note to self, I needed to try to make all the doorways at least ten feet high.

I ran a hand through my hair. "I'm younger than most of you!" I continued to argue, mouth set in a frown as I took the ship from a laughing Gino before the Fishman could accidentally snap it, walking over to drop it into the water outside the Dying Dream. "No parental nicknames! You're making me feel old," I grimaced after saying that, grabbing a slowly recovering Ace with one arm and throwing him overboard so he landed in Striker, the little fire-powered boat he had used to get to us that I had thrown in the ocean a moment earlier. He landed with an "oomph," that knocked whatever air he had regained out of his lungs again. I ignored the seething glare he sent me, leaning over the side of the Dying Dream to look down at him.

"Now that you're leaving— _don't you dare tell your crew about this Momma Maven nonsense!"_ I warned him coldly, but his smirk did nothing to reassure me. At all. "Tell Whitebeard I wanna visit you twice a year— so, six more months from now to start. It'll only make two, maybe three more visits before I join up with Luffy if we're lucky, but still."

"I'll ask Pops," Ace said easily, tilting his hat back as he sat up properly in his boat and smiled up at me. "Pretty sure he'll agree though. He seems to like you well enough."

I nodded, my mouth turning up into a relaxed smile. "I liked talking to him, too. He might call me 'Brat,' but he doesn't treat me like a kid. He's pretty refreshing to talk to, actually."

"Alright, Hag," Ace teased as he rolled his eyes. "Maybe you're nickname really _should_ be Momma Maven," he laughed as he was forced to dodge the bag of food that I threw down at him. I had been prepared to lower the supplies to him calmly, like a normal person. But he ruined it.

" _Goodbye, Brat,"_ I replied coldly even though I was smiling. He let loose one more chuckle before shooting a flame into the engine on the back of his boat and speeding off back towards the New World. "AND WEAR A SHIRT!" I yelled after him, getting a very rude hand gesture thrown over his back in reply that made me smirk. I knew he went completely without a shirt because of his pride in his new Whitebeard tattoo on his back, but that didn't mean I stopped teasing him about his skimpy attire.

I turned back to my still-grinning crew, leveling a finger at them. "Now then. Back to why no one will call me Momma Maven ever again..."

—*—*—*—*—*

I looked down at my new bounty poster. Usurper Maven, ninety-nine million belly. I was, as per the norm, holding up a sign in the picture. This time it read: "Luffy, our treehouse better still be intact," as I glared at the camera. Of course, I was beat up and in a bad mood. Behind me, Raz was holding up another sign that said: "Momma Maven" with an arrow pointing towards me.

That sign had gotten ripped up the moment I saw it, but obviously not in time for it to escape being in the background of my bounty poster.

How had my bounty shot up from fifty-five million to almost a hundred million belly in one go? Well, I _had_ been trying to lay low from the Marines. I had, truly.

But, the day after Ace left and right as Sabo was taking off in his own small boat back to his mysterious Revolutionary Army base…

—*—*—*—*—*

I stared as Sabo disappeared over the horizon, a new island coming into view in almost the complete opposite direction. Since Lin wasn't around to navigate anymore, Cala— the man who had eaten the Cat-Cat: model Lynx devil fruit— took over that job. He was a pretty good navigator as well, though the post he had originally taken up when he joined was to be our scout and designated nighttime lookout. His catlike eyesight from his devil fruit helped him on both accounts, as well as the silent steps that he also got from his cat attributes that made him the perfect scout to run ahead without a sound to make sure the coast was clear for us on land.

The man was lithe, all skin and muscle that made him look lanky rather than buff, and was just as good of a brawler as Lin had been. Of course, _she_ hadn't had a Zoan devil fruit to help her, but the matter stands.

He and Katie worked together (though not as well as _Lin_ and Katie had) to bring the ship in smoothly to the dock. I really needed to stop interjecting Lin into everything. That was a habit that would get annoying _fast._

We went into town and restocked, doing the usual things required of us. But we must have let our guards down more than we usually did since we were still recovering from mourning, because I woke up in a seastone-lined dungeon cell with Gino, Cala, Synalla, and Yalla around me. Stormfall, Synalla's tessen, and Gino's spiked iron knuckles were all hung up on hooks outside the cage and out of our reach.

I didn't even bother asking Yalla if she could reach through the seastone gate to reach our weapons. Even if she could, they wouldn't fit through the bars for us to retrieve them anyway. And, on top of that, the bars were set up in a grid pattern so Yalla would only have been able to sneak out the tiniest ribbons… even then, she likely wouldn't have been able to keep it steady enough to avoid touching the seastone.

I sat there for a long moment as I digested this fact. Seastone was also as hard as diamond, so even full powered hits from a Haki-sheathed fist were not likely to break the cage gate.

"Well," I said slowly, standing up. My crew members, who had still been blinking sleep away from their eyes when I spoke, blearily looked up at me. "This is an issue."

Right after I said that, a speaker overhead broadcasted the words:

"THE PIRATES THAT ATTACKED THE ROYAL FAMILY WILL FACE EXECUTION TODAY AT NOON! ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY! REPEAT, ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY!"

"Looks like we have a framing and a potential coup to deal with," I put my hands on my hips.

"DON'T SAY IT SO CALMLY!" Synalla yelled at me while the other three of our crewmates just stood up Yalla patted Synalla's shoulder comfortingly, and Gino cracked his knuckles.

"Calm down, Granny," he said with a grin that showed off his many rows of razor sharp teeth. His light blue skin rippled as he stretched his arms. Cala was also stretching, the lanky man brushing his short blue hair back (it was too short to _go_ anywhere, but it seemed to be a habit of his). His eyes, a darker and more golden yellow than Yalla's, were starting to fill with hyper excitement. He was like a chihuahua whenever a fight was concerned, jittery and bouncy.

"Don't call me that!" Synalla hissed to the muscular Fishman, standing up and having to bend her neck a bit since the ceilings were almost two feet too short to accommodate her tall, lanky body and extremely long neck. She was about eleven feet tall in total, so it was a common occurrence for her to have to bend over or sit in order to not bang her head on the ceiling.

"I'm the only complete human in the room," I realized, crossing my arms as I blinked at them. "Two devil fruit users, a Snakeneck, a Fishman… and then me. I'm the only normal one," I went over to the corner and sulked. "I'm such a boring existence…" I moaned in despair

"YOU'RE THE BIGGEST MONSTER HERE!" All of them, except Yalla, yelled at me. The thirteen year old just patted my shoulder comfortingly.

—*—*—*—*—*

"Well, this is an issue," Raz said as he stood on the deck of the Dying Dream in the morning. He had thought that Maven and the other missing members would have come back in the middle of the night, but they were still gone. Katie was bent over the steering wheel, sobbing.

"I can't be left to be the interim captain again! Mavennnnn! Come baaaaack!" She was moaning in despair. Kilik was frowning, and the last member of the Dying Dream crew was sitting on a crate, staring at the island with wide eyes. He had joined at Sabaody, and thus wasn't completely integrated with the crew yet just like Gino and Cala were still slightly out of the family-like structure that dominated most of the Dying Dream crew.

This man was Dyan. He had dark forest green hair that spiked upwards in fluffy tufts like the fur of a shaggy cat, and looked just as soft. His eyes were a similar green, dark and deep, and were wide and catlike in his round face. He looked to be only about ten or eleven, but had already told the crew that he was somewhere around his mid-thirties (he stopped counting a while back) and looked young because of eating the Child-Child Fruit. It gave him eternal youth, and was very similar to the Hobby-Hobby Fruit in general.

Dyan looked around and jolted as he heard the announcement that was broadcasted all over the Ceres Kingdom; "THE PIRATES THAT ATTACKED THE ROYAL FAMILY WILL FACE EXECUTION TODAY AT NOON! ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY! REPEAT, ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY!"

"A… haaa…" the boy breathed out, suddenly knowing _exactly_ where his missing crewmates were. Raz, Kilik, and Katie, by their brief silence and then chorus of deep sighs, had come to the same conclusion.

"...Is it too late for me to mention that I ran away from here because I'm technically supposed to be King?" Dyan asked, turning his childish green eyes up to his crewmates. Even Raz blinked at him for a long, silent moment.

"You're WHAT?!" Was the chorus from Katie and Kilik that nearly killed Dyan's eardrums.

"Why would you run away from being king?" Raz asked calmly, head tilted and grey eyes curious as he looked over his childlike crewmate. Dyan shrugged.

"What do you think? I was quarantined in a bedroom with a huge staff of overly sympathetic and coddling doctors and nurses and constantly given experimental treatments to try and cure me," the boy said dryly, green eyes flat in his deadpan stare. "Suffice to say, I knew that nobody was going to come up with a cure for the fact that my blood is highly toxic and eating at my own bodily functions with every heartbeat, _soooo."_

"Call it Heartache disease," Raz suggested. "Makes it sound less painful."

"And more stupid," the boy retorted with an eye roll. He pushed himself off of the crate. "Come on. I can steer you guys through the back alleys that I used to escape."

"Yosh!" Katie pumped her fist in the air, energy suddenly renewed. "Operation: Get Maven Back and Keep Me From Being Interim Captain is a GO!" She pulled her bow from its usual spot at the small of her back. "Shoot anyone who gets in the way!"

"You're the only one here who uses a weapon that _shoots_ ," Kilik reminded her. Then, he rethought what he said and ran a hand through his cinnamon hair. "Well… Raz does throw some smoke pellets sometimes, does that count?"

Katie ignored the swordsman. "Okay, Dying Hope crew! You watch the ships and keep everything in order while we're gone! We should be back soon!"

"Don't die while we're gone, please," Raz called over his back as he descended the landing platform that nobody else ever used.

"Should I be bowing to you or something?" Kilik asked as he looked down at Dyan, who was half his height and easily hopped from the side of the Dying Dream and onto the land of the Ceres Kingdom.

"You're asking me this _after_ the dozens of times you've lifted me up by the back of my shirt, called me a 'little boy' and told me to stay out of adult conversations just to piss me off?" The man asked, looking up at Kilik with a raised eyebrow. "Really? You knew that I'm probably twice your age this whole time, it would be pointless to start giving me any respect _this_ late into the game."

"Does the little boy want to ride on my shoulders then?" Kilik instantly teased with a smirk, making Dyan twitch in annoyance.

"Say one more word, and I will use my powers to turn you into a Big Brother," the short man warned darkly. His ability allowed him to hypnotize any adult that looked into his eyes into becoming what he called an "older sibling," that would obey his requests and protect him. It worked oddly since they treated him like a younger sibling and wouldn't obey _orders_ , but Dyan had had his devil fruit long enough to master all of its quirks.

Kilik knew that, and knew that Dyan's threat was very real. He pointedly looked anywhere _except_ the man in a child's body, though he knew Dyan could easily trick him into eye contact if the green haired man truly wanted to get back at him.

"That's what I thought," Dyan said smugly, turning forward as he began to lead his crew through the alleyways of the kingdom.

—*—*—*—*—*

**Omake**

_Dawn Island, after the Ceres Kingdom incident._

Luffy grinned as he pinned the newest Bounty Poster for Maven up on the treehouse wall. Dadan was down at the base of the tree, having been the person to give Luffy the piece of paper to begin with. Ace and Sabo had their own sections of the walls dedicated to the Bounty Posters they got, But Maven by far had the most. He looked through all the signs she held up in every poster.

Her first two; "I see you, idiot," at twenty-one million belly, and "Hi Sabo, Ace, and Luffy!" At twenty-four. Then there was one where the sign said: "Congrats on the promotion Blondie!" another said: "Hina, stop stalking me!" And the second-to-last read: "Don't say I didn't warn you, Brat."

"What are you going to do?" Dadan's voice called up from below. "I think she just _senses_ the destruction."

Luffy stuck his head out of the window of the tree house. What previously had two and a half stories and a hallway leading to a detached room for Maven was now only the main room attached to wooden rubble. Primarily the Geezer's fault from his rampage after Maven's third or fourth bounty.

"Luffy, our treehouse better still be intact!" Glared out at him from the sign Maven was holding in her newest bounty poster. Luffy let out a nervous chuckle.

"I just hope she never comes back here!" He rubbed his head at the mere _thought_ of what Maven would do to him if she found out the state of their childhood home. Almost certainly, it would be a Haki-coated punch to the head. And Maven's punches _hurt._

_End Omake._

— _*_ —*—*—*—*

**Omake**

_Marineford, Marine Headquarters, Grand Line. After the Ceres Kingdom incident._

"GYAAAAH THAT BRAT!" Garp yelled, barely keeping himself from punching a hole in the wall. He turned to Sengoku, ignoring that the bag of rice crackers in his hands likely contained nothing but dust now. He smiled sweetly at Sengoku. "She's sick and dying, could you please keep her below a hundred million? She's _that_ much of a threat~" he tried asking as sweetly as possible. The glare he received from the Fleet Admiral was _not_ promising.

"NOT THAT MUCH OF A THREAT?!" Sengoku yelled, quickly going into a rant about her long list of crimes. "And she's completely destroyed Captain Hina's fleets on multiple occasions!" He was saying, "She deserved to reach a hundred million a while ago! I only kept her bounty low because it wouldn't be good if word got out that such a feared pirate as her was _raised_ here in Marineford!" He slapped his hands on the desk.

"Come on, Sengoku," Garp said, still trying to convince the man. "You helped raise her too! You know how good of a kid she is! You always snuck her out for ice cream behind my back!"

"Eh— you knew about that?!" Sengoku quickly shook his head. "Wait, that doesn't matter! She's an adult now and she has repaid our leniency with raising her by turning into a pirate! And what she did in Ceres is inexcusable!" The man took a slow breath. "But fine. One _last_ time, I'll keep her under a hundred million," he picked up a marker to write down her bounty. "Happy?"

Garp looked at the number and fought between dropping in disappointment and shouting with glee. His granddaughter was powerful enough for Sengoku to find it necessary to keep her bounty high! Powerful just like he raised her to be! On the other hand, ninety-nine million…

"You just wanted to make me shut up," he grumbled at Sengoku, who didn't argue with the accusation.

_End Omake._

—*—*—*—*—*

**See you next chapter!**


	18. Chapter 18

— ***—*—*—*—***

I swung my arms to loosen up my shoulders, looking over at my crewmates. "Cala, technically you are strong enough to help out, but your bones need to be taken care of. You, Synalla and Yalla should stand back, Gino and I can bust these walls down no problem," I told them. The long necked woman nodded, the lanky Zoan user next to her shrugging his agreement as the little acrobat of the group threw her fist in the air to cheer us on. "Okay. The gate is a no-go, Seastone is too hard. The side walls likely lead to just more cells, soooo~" the big Fishman and I turned to the wall behind us with matching predatory smiles on our faces.

"Back wall has to go!" Gino said for me, his sharp shark's teeth glistening in the dim lighting. In sync, the two of us brought back our right fists and slammed them towards the defenseless wall. The wall immediately became a huge crater, the chunks of stone wobbling as they tried to stay in tact. Grinning, I leaned forward and blew one small gust of air right at the center of the crack. The tiny amount of force was enough to disrupt the wall's attempt at balance, sending the whole crater crumbling and leaving behind a large opening that spanned almost the whole back wall of the cell. Gino and I bumped our fists together, but were pushed aside by our resident dancer as the Snakeneck ran out into the new hallway.

Synalla's sigh could be heard from all of us, as me and the other three of her crew members she had left behind in the cell stepped out to join her in the new area. We quickly saw what had made her release her sound of relief— the ceilings in the hallway we had punched ourselves out into were about five feet taller than in the holding cells, so Synalla could stand at her full height without issues.

I took the moment to look around. The halls were still dark and made of cold stone, with a staircase on one side as the hallway ended in a door on the other end. I scratched my head, turning to open the door to see if it led into the hall of cells that we had been in so that we could get our weapons back, but I was disappointed.

When I opened the heavy wood door, I stared straight down into what was likely a maze. There were holding cells scattered down the hallway I stared down, but there were also four hallways branching off from it and doubtlessly leading further into the dungeon area.

The bad part was that none of those four hallways led in the same direction we had come from, meaning that they had to spiral around in twists and turns that were meant to confuse escaping prisoners like us.

"More and more issues," I grumbled, looking back at my crewmates. Separating to search each hallway alone was a bad idea, each of us had some pretty glaring weaknesses that we needed to keep in mind at all times. Yalla's organs were weak because of her Assassin Syndrome, so any direct hits to her torso would just about take her out of a fight. And potentially more than that too, if it was a particularly strong hit. Cala had something similar to Yalla and I.

In the world, there were three incredibly rare diseases that people agreed were the triplet of horrible disasters to befall a person. They all ended in death a hundred percent of the time, none had a cure, and they were all painful to deal with. Those were Usurper's Syndrome, Assassin Syndrome, and Nature's Wrath Syndrome. Cala had Nature's Wrath Syndrome. Each disease was essentially the same thing, only it attacked a different part of the body. Usurper's, obviously, attacked the muscles. Assassin's attacked the organs.

Nature's wrath attacked the bones.

So if anyone landed a solid hit to any of Cala's bones, the Zoan would be down. The bones were so fragile in his body that he even had to avoid being thrown around on the ship in harsh weather, or a stray bump against a table could snap one in two. They also didn't repair themselves very quickly, so that bone would need twice as long to heal as it would take most others to heal from the same injury.

Synalla's lungs were weak, so she couldn't be forced to move too quickly for too long or her own hyperventilation could cause her to have an attack that could severely inhibit her breathing and bring her down.

And Gino…

I looked up to the buff shark Fishman next to me, over the pale stripes that littered his light blue skin and strained over his large biceps. That very man brought a hand to his mouth as he leaned around me to look into the maze of hallways I had opened the door to reveal. He tried to hide it, but I still caught the sight of two black petals and a black thorn in his palm when he pulled his hand away.

Hanahaki, the fictional disease that caused people to cough up flowers because of unrequited love. Based off of the real (in this world) disease that was much more sinister, and couldn't be operated away like the fictional Hanahaki. It was called Akui Hanahaki, or Malice Hanahaki. It was caught when somebody does something so bad that they cause someone close to them, usually a family member or lover, to hate them so much that they wish for the victim's death. It caused roots to form _from_ the victim's lungs, not around them, the roots soon forming black rose bushes that grew in the lungs slowly and caused the victim to cough black petals and thorns until the brambles eventually grew too big and killed them. Since the roots were formed from the airways of the lungs themselves, operation was impossible.

Gino was a good guy. But even good guys made mistakes. His past mistake cost him his own life, in the form of his current disease, but now even his own chance at being cured was gone. Akui Hanahaki could be slowed and eventually cured if the victim and the one that hates them reconciled. But the one that Gino hurt was already dead. The funny Fishman, strong and dependable…

I saw the man slip a hand in his pocket to wipe off the petals and thorns where I wouldn't see them.

He had some pretty deep regrets.

"Okay. Synalla, Gino. The two of you head down that hallway," I pointed to the one that headed in the exact opposite direction we had come from. "Yalla, Cala, and I will head down one of the others. Umm… I guess we can meet back here when—"

"No need Boss," Gino interrupted as he pulled something out of his pocket. "I know you were really out of it and probably don't remember, but I asked you for your nail clippings when we were on our way to Hopeless Island. When we passed through Sabaody on our way there, I used the clippings to get a Vivre Card for you."

I blinked. That would certainly make things easier! "Awe— Wait, would that even work for us?" I tilted my head in curiosity. Gino chuckled as he unfolded the paper.

"I was worried about that too, but there doesn't seem to be too much of an issue. We'll never confuse it for anyone else's Vivre Card, at least," I understood when he took out the whole piece of paper.

It _should_ have been white and pristine. Vivre cards also reflected the well-being and life status of the person it was made for, and I _was_ dying. So it shouldn't have surprised me to see that the whole paper was black. Black like soot, as if it had been completely charred. The edges were brittle, and I saw some ash flake off of them every now and then. Gino handed me the card, and I carefully folded a square and ripped it off, handing it to the fishman before repeating the action and handing the second square to Cala

"I tested it," the Fishman said as he tucked his piece of the card back into his pocket. "It's still fire and waterproof, oddly enough. Apparently it only looks like this because of your Usurper's. Vivre cards for any one of us would probably turn out like this too," he told me. I took off my fedora, sliding the slip of blackened paper into the lavender ribbon around it after carefully folding it a few times. I did a few quick tests, sliding my hat around to make sure it wouldn't slip out.

I smirked up at him. "This works out great! Now I can give part of it to Ace and Sabo each next time I see them, too! Good thinking, Gino!"

The tough Fishman blushed a bit at my praise, and Syanalla grabbed one of his buff biceps as she sighed and began to drag him down one hallway.

"Operation: Retrieve our Weapons is a go!" I called after them, leading Cala and Yalla down a random one of the leftover hallways of cells.

—*—*—*—*—*

"This city sure is… artsy," Kilik mused softly as their shortest member led them through the surprisingly clean alleyways behind all the uniquely shaped buildings. Even the materials were unique, some were made out of gemstones like Lapis Lazuli or entirely out of quartz. It was the oddest, most mismatched yet oddly beautiful city that Raz, Kilik, or Katie had ever seen.

Dyan seemed pretty immune to it. Not surprising, considering he was most likely born and raised there.

"Not just the city," Dyan replied as he held out an arm to stop them from turning into an alleyway and bumping into a group of people who were painting on the side of a building. He quickly turned and led them down a different path, forest green eyes darting around as he mentally calculated where they were and where they needed to go. "The whole Kingdom is based on art and critical thinking. Some of the best poets and novelists in the world live here, along with famous painters, sculptors, and obviously architects," he said that last part as they passed behind a twisty building that looked like it was made entirely out of pencils and erasers. As they passed by an exit towards the open road, the three newcomers to the city could hear singing and saw various signs for dance schools of all types.

"Impressive," Raz commented. "Not many doctors then?"

Dyan laughed. "Not many that are raised here, no. We survive off— the _kingdom_ survives off of the demand for their art and tourists that come to visit their idols or the artists who inspired them. Even the monarchy focuses on raising their heirs on being well versed in different art forms in addition to politics," Dyan looked down at his hand as he started counting off; "I know how to play piano, violin, flute, I'm decent at pottery, well versed in tea brewing and mixing, and an expert at fashion design. My parents tried to get me into dancing, but after I ate the child-child fruit they gave up; no way someone as short as me would find a partner other than a _real_ child, after all."

"This seems like a place Yalla would love," Katie thought out loud as they ran, the castle becoming larger as they drew closer to it. "She _does_ love her acrobatics. She'd fit right in."

"I don't know," Dyan tilted his head. "Perhaps for a while, she would like it. But people here can be a bit pushy to always improve your art. Doing it just for fun isn't really a concept many of the citizens understand."

"I can't believe Prince Cyan was attacked by those filthy pirates!" That was somebody from the main road, and the words made Dyan and the others stop in their tracks to eavesdrop. Dyan's eyebrows instantly wrinkled, making his crew mates suspicious that something _other_ than their captain and friends being framed was wrong about the situation. "And after he's been sick for long! Poor Queen Lyan has been worried sick about him ever since King Dyan disappeared."

"Prince Cyan?" Dyan mumbled. "But, that's not right. He should be King, not Prince… _Lyan,_ " the last name came out as a growl, making his crewmates (except Raz) flinch. The three of them looked down at their green haired friend, whose tiny hands were clenched into fists.

"Dyan?" Katie asked, kneeling down so she could be at his height, Raz and Kilik followed suit. "What's wrong? Wasn't it your job to choose who would be King or Queen after you left?"

Dyan nodded. "That's just it. Five years ago, I was tired of being coddled and treated like a _real_ child with the nurses all taking care of me and doctors speaking to me so carefully and not letting me out of my room. So I decided to run away and explore the world outside my kingdom with the time I had left," Katie, Raz, and Kilik nodded. They knew about his dream, so what he just told them wasn't necessarily much of anything new. "Well, the day I ran away I left a note for Lyan and Cyan, who are siblings and my cousins, the next two who were in line for the throne. Lyan is older, but I knew for a few years that she'd been dealing with some of the more illegal things going on the country. Drug abuse, art thefts, black market sales, things like that. But I didn't have proof to use against her, so I decided to put Cyan in my will as the next King. I even told the three Monarch Guards about my choice in case Lyan ripped up my note," Dyan explained.

"So something happened, and Lyan kept your choice away from the public anyway," Raz mused out loud. "If the citizens thought you just disappeared and didn't have the chance to leave behind a will deciding the next ruler, then they'd automatically give it to the oldest heir," his words made the small man nod grimly.

"That's what I'm worried about. I wondered why the black market seemed to have so much more illegal artwork floating around than normal since I left, but…" Dyan shook his head. "Things are probably worse than some stolen artwork being sold illegally. Lyan is greedy and conniving. She'll do anything for a little extra comfort."

Katie sighed, tapping her fingers on her arm as she thought. "Let's continue heading to castle. Dyan, I know this is your home, but—"

"If we find out that what's going on is really bad," Dyan interrupted, "then I will help my cousin and this kingdom. I can't leave Cyan alone if he's in trouble," Dyan told his first mate firmly. "I can't ask you all to help, the Hopeless Pirates have nothing to do with Ceres Kingdom. And Maven wants to remain a little less well known, so—"

"No," Katie shook her head, looking at Raz and then Kilik. "If we let you run off alone, Maven will have our heads for it. If you want to help your cousin so badly, we'll help. But first let's get closer to the castle."

Dyan nodded, determination glimmering in his dark green eyes as he turned and continued to lead them through the alleyways. "Let's go then!"

—*—*—*—*—*

I skidded to a halt, Cala and Yalla only a second behind me. A woman with knitting needles in her hands was standing in the hallway, wearing a smirk.

"We knew you'd try to escape, nya. My name is Nitanya, I am one of Queen Lyan's Monarch Guards, nya. Time to put you filthy pirates back in your cages, nya!" The woman held her knitting needles like daggers, rushing at us. Her magenta hair was tightly tied into a bun on the top of her head, holding a third knitting needle in it that I assumed was her emergency weapon.

Cala and I jumped in to meet her, the two of us being much better sat brawling than Yalla. Without our weapons, it was all we could do. Cala switched into his half and half form, growing taller as short fur sprouted over his skin and his ears lengthened and moved to the top of his head. His pupils narrowed into catlike slits, and his hands sprouted wicked claws. He moved in with a hiss to claw at the knitting woman, who easily dodged out of the way with fluid grace. I nailed her in the side with a kick, but it barely seemed to phase her as she skidded back. She instantly leapt back at us, a wide smile on her purple-painted lips.

"Nyahaha! I forgot to tell you! I'm the best knitter in the kingdom, nya!" We didn't realize the danger as Cala and I both aimed a punch at the woman's ugly mug. She just raised her knitting needles and yelled; "Knit-Knit: Yarn Jail!" What followed was the oddest thing I had ever experienced. And I grew up with a boy made of rubber.

My arms suddenly felt as if they were boneless, and Nitanya's needle actually slipped into my arm, her other needle slipping into Cala's similarly wobbly limb. Within seconds, me and the new navigator of the crew were _knitted together_ by our arms. Both of our arms were knitted together at our sides, leaving Cala and I back-to-back and unable to get our fingers or arms separated from one another.

"Nyahahaha! I ate the Knit-Knit fruit! I can knit anything as if it was yarn, including people! Good luck escaping, nyahahaha!" She dove towards Yalla next, effortlessly repeating the move on our youngest member. But I grinned as I realized something, watching as Yalla easily turned her limbs into ribbons and unwound herself.

Yalla was made out of ribbons! She could perfectly counter the guard's knitting powers by untangling herself!

"Yalla!" I yelled as the girl prepared to fight. "Be careful! Cala and I will try to find a way to get untangled, take this lady down!" Yeah, I had worries about Yalla's fragile body. But I had to trust her, because Cala and I would be no help as long as we were immobilized as a human craft project. In fact, we'd just get in the way.

"No you don't, Nya!" Nitanya yelled as she tried to run after us, aiming her needles at our legs as Cala and I did our best to head in the same direction as fast as possible.

"Leave Maven-Chan and Cala-Chan alone!" Yalla yelled as ribbons shot out of her fingers. "Ribbon-Ribbon: Pretty Grab!" The ribbons wrapped around the woman's needles, putting the two into a tug-of-war for the tools that allowed Cala and I to get away.

"Okay," Cala said as we stumbled over each other's feet. "Maybe we should try walking sideways."

"Yeah, sounds like a smart plan," I agreed as we slowly picked ourselves up, turned sideways, and continued hobbling down the hallway. "This is the dumbest thing I've ever had to do. I hope Yalla gets that woman good!"

"And what was up with the 'nya's?" Cala added. "I'm a Cat Zoan and not even _I_ am that cheesy."

"...oh shit," I said as I realized something after we made several turns down hallways. "I forgot to give Yalla a piece of the Vivre Card."

—*—*—*—*—*

Yalla skidded as she avoided a strike form the funny woman's needles. Despite the fact that they were small blunt weapons, the little pink haired girl had seen them stab straight through the stone walls like butter during their little game of strike-and-dodge. The little girl had been trained in Haki like all the other members, but she wasn't learning it very well. Everyone assured her that it was because of her age, but that didn't make the acrobat feel much better. She could just barely use her Observation to dodge the woman's quick attacks.

"Stop moving, nya! Let me stab you, nya!"

"You're a crazy cat lady!" Yalla yelled back, smiling at her epiphany. "The stuck up bun, the 'nya'ing, the knitting! You're an old crazy cat lady!" Yalla was very proud of her observation. But it seemed to just make Nitanya angrier, the woman thrusting forward with her right needle to try and jab it through Yalla's arm.

The new teenager twisted, letting the arm Nitanya aimed for transform into a ribbon and wrap around the attacking appendage. "Ribbon-Ribbon: Pretty Tug!" Yalla tugged her ribbon-arm forward, determined to get this done right. Maven had never let her fight alone before, not without another member watching her just in case. Nitanya slammed into the wall next to Yalla, letting out a small grunt of pain.

Yalla couldn't fail Maven. Her captain trusted her!

Yalla used her grip on Nitanya's arm as an anchor, jumping into the air over Nitanya's head with just her grip on the guard's arm keeping her in place.

But the Guard seemed to not be inconvenienced. She swiped her other needle faster than Yalla could dodge it in midair, slicing her cheek open. Yalla winced, But finally used her hold on the woman to throw her towards the opposite wall. Nitanya cackled even as she hit the stone hard.

"If I can't knit _you_ into submission, I'll just use your blood! Nyahahahaha!"

Yalla chose to ignore the threat, dashing in with her arms both ribbons, her ribbon-fingers waving in the air as she ran. Ribbon whips met with needle slashes, and some of Yalla's fingers were braided together by the skillful twirl of one of Nitanya's needles. The little girl easily unwound them.

The Monarch Guard was littered in bruises from being whacked against stone walls and ceilings so often and so roughly, but the young pirate wasn't without her own wounds. She had remembered Maven's advice and avoided getting any blunt hits, but she was covered in cuts and scrapes from half-dodges of the other woman's dangerous knitting needles. Rounded objects shouldn't have been able to slice like they had to Yalla, but the pigtailed girl had learned to not expect things to go normally in the Grand Line. A particularly long slice on one of Yalla's arms was bleeding pretty badly, splashing the ground with her blood. Nitanya dipped her needle in one of these puddles, lifting it up to reveal a thread of Yalla's blood on it like yarn.

"Nyahahaha! Die!" The Guard's needles were impossible to follow with the naked eye as she knitted the blood into a long scarf. "I can control anything I'm knitting as long as my needles are still in part of it! Nyahahahaha!" The scarf of blood swayed in the air before wrapping around Yalla like a snake, binding her limbs together tightly. The girl wiggled, trying to escape the tight bonds. She was quickly losing air, one end of the blood-scarf coiled around her throat.

"I can't… fail… Maven-Chan!"

—*—*—*—*—*

"Oy! What happened to the old Monarch Guards?! Tendyin, Scholar, and Trickle?!" Dyan asked one of the castle soldiers that Katie and Kilik had taken down and pinned in a secret passage that Dyan had showed them. The soldier shook.

"K-King Dyan! King Dyan! You're back!"

"What. Happened. To my. Monarch Guards?!" Dyan hissed out again, his normally short patience even more fried than usual.

"A-a-Ah! Scholar and Trickle were executed for treason! They were trying to assassinate Queen Lyan!" The pirates exchanged glances, frowning at the familiarity of the story. It seemed like their captain and crewmates weren't the first people that the criminal Queen had framed. "And T-Tendyan-Sama was almost assassinated! He's been in a coma ever since! Queen Lyan keeps him cared for by the palace doctors! In the same hall as Prince Cyan is in right now, recovering! That's what the Queen said!"

"Thank you for your cooperation," Raz said blandly as he stuck a needle in the soldier's neck. Within seconds, the soldier was knocked out and Raz tucked the needle back in his pocket.

"If the Queen said that the old guard and Cyan are in the same infirmary hall, then what does that _really_ mean?" Katie asked their shortest member. Dyan looked up, his mouth in a tight line.

"It means they're in the dungeons. It's a labyrinth down there for anyone who isn't familiar with it, so I'll lead the way."

"Good." Kilik nodded with a smirk. "We were going to need to head down there anyway for Maven and the others!"

"Ah. Let's be careful though, whoever Lyan appointed as the new Monarch Guards are probably down there to catch anybody trying to free Cyan," Dyan pointed out. Raz nodded, raising an eyebrow.

"Or to keep certain prisoners from breaking out," the doctor hinted heavily. The four of them were silent before Kilik softly spoke up;

"We're gonna be in a fight way before we even make it back up to ground level, aren't we?" He sighed in despair as his hand went to the hilt of his new Lipstick Sword. Makeup style, he was calling it— but he was already getting tired of it. Maybe he'd make a new sword when they got all this confusion done with.

Katie put a hand on Kilik's shoulder. "Welcome to Maven's pirate crew. If you were expecting a peaceful journey, why the hell did you join? Or better yet, what the hell is wrong with your brain that you thought you'd get more than five minutes of peace with _Maven_ as our captain?"

"At least give me sympathy!" Kilik moaned as he watched his three crew members, led by Dyan, head down to the dungeons.

The Hopeless Pirates: They ask sympathy for the fact that they have to get off their lazy asses to fight people who are probably strong, not for the time limits on their lives.

—*—*—*—*—*

"Our weapons!" Syanalla yelled happily as she and the buff Fishman next to her finally pulled up in front of the cell with the giant hole in the back, the rack holding their weapons standing teasingly against the wall just out of reach of the seastone bars.

"Not just our weapons," Gino warned his friend, shifting into a battle stance. Synalla stretched out her Observation, quickly tuning into the breathing and "voice" of the man just out of sight around the corner. "We know you're there! Come on out, ya coward!"

"My my, that's not nice!" A man's very prim voice scolded. Out stepped a male about seven feet tall, give or take a few inches, and glossy orange hair tied back into a short horsetail. He was very slim for a man, and was walking on the balls of his feet as if he were a dog walking upright. "I am Tondue! I am one of Queen Lyan's Monarch Guards, and a master of the delicate art of dance fighting!" He spun in a perfect pirouette. "A beautiful melding of the art of dance and the skill of battle! Be taken down by my elegant power!"

"The ceilings are too short here," Synalla complained. Once again she was having to bend her flexible neck so she didn't bang her head. "I could probably take him, if he's gonna try to out-dance me. But I can't even maintain proper posture here!"

"Kukuku, that's exactly why we chose this hallway for your prison cell! I had a hunch the two tallest of the group would come back here to fetch your weaponry!"

"That's a stupid hunch," Gino said, tilting his head with a frown.

"Indeed, only a two out of five chance that he would be correct. What a gamble!"

"SHUT UP YOU FILTHY PIRATES!" He pointed to them indignantly. "NEITHER OF YOU HAVE ANY ROOM TO JUMP OR DODGE! I HAVE THE UPPER HAND!"

The two pirates looked at each other. It was true, even Gino barely had a foot of clear air above his head with the low nine-foot ceilings, but…

"You don't have much room to jump either," Gino pointed out bluntly. Tondue was only about a foot shorter than the Fishman, and proper dance leaps would mean that the Guard would risk bumping his head if he lost track of how much strength he was using for each maneuver. "I'd say we're 'bout even with the disadvantages of the turf."

"W-w-whatever! My expertise has always been in the language of dance anyway, not words. Die!" The man jumped towards them, leg coming at them almost too fast for their eyes to follow.

"Shit! He's fast!" Gino cursed as he brought his arms up to protect his face instinctually. Thankfully, he didn't have to rely on his Haki or his natural Fishman durability, because Synalla had been able to follow the move with ease and grab the man's ankle, tossing him back with a flick of her wrist.

"Try harder!" The Snakeneck teased. "Even from this horrible angle, I could read your moves like a children's book!"

"Kuku! I was only just beginning!" Blades popped out of the bottom of the man's ballet flats, resembling ice skates. The two pirates could easily see that the blades were sharper than razors, however. They shaved off thin layers of the stone ground just from one of Tondue's footsteps.

"Hey, you get to use weapons but we don't?" Gino asked, frowning. "That's just dirty fighting. Guess you fancy-pants dancing Guards aren't much for honor, are ya?"

"Honor? Who cares about honor?! It's all about obeying the Queen's wishes, the end justifies the means! If I have an advantage over you, I'll gladly use it!" The dance fighter swept his leg up quickly in an upwards arc, quickly switching it into a leap as he spun his body almost completely horizontal and aimed his other bladed foot in a follow up slice that was nothing but a pale blur of metal and skin.

"Gah!" Gino let one of the slashes land on his arm, where he protected Synalla's overly-exposed throat from getting slit. He hadn't used Haki, knowing his body could take the blow and not wanting to use the ability outside of the New World too much.

"Quick! To your left!" Synalla yelled, having bent and reached around Gino's back to bat away the second kick from hitting either of them. The fishman growled, eyes darting to his left where he moved on pure instinct. He opened his mouth, shooting his head forward to grab the hand that had taken the chance to jab towards Synalla's chest in his powerful jaws. Tondue's hand had razor-sharp fake nails on them, which had gone unnoticed until that moment since they were relatively short. Gino's shark teeth clenched the nails tightly, but they didn't break.

"Kukukuku! My fabulous nails are made of titanium!" Tondue yanked his hand away, taking Gino's set of teeth with it as the man backflipped away to get space. His quick thinking allowed him to barely dodge Synalla's knee that she had aimed at his stomach.

"Ouch," Gino rubbed his jaw lazily as his teeth grew back almost instantly. "Ah. Maybe we should see how many pairs it takes until my teeth are sharp enough to snap titanium?" He asked Synalla as he rolled his shoulder, eyes narrowed in annoyance. Some shark fishmen didn't mind losing their teeth, since they grew back so quickly and were always stronger and sharper. But Gino didn't like it, it hurt and the sensation of the new teeth popping up so fast felt weird. It wouldn't make him upset, per say, but he was definitely more annoyed at Tondue than he otherwise would have been.

The dancer Guard shrieked when he saw the tag along on his hand, quickly shaking the appendage in disgust until the shark teeth flew off to land abandoned in a corner.

"Ewww! Disgusting!" Tondue said, unknowingly making both non-human pirates stiffen. "So gross! Teeth! What the hell kind of freaks are you fishmen, losing your teeth like that with no problem?! Cooties! I have fishman cooties!"

Only Synalla's hands on his shoulders kept Gino from lunging at the man. The buff pirate was no stranger to hate and discrimination against him and other non-humans, but that didn't mean he would take it. It didn't mean it didn't still piss him off royally.

"Oy, bastard!" Gino growled out. "You're still in a fight!" The Snakeneck behind him let go, allowing Gino to storm forward and land his right fist squarely in the Monarch Guard's face, making the man burst through not only the wall behind them, but also up through the ceiling.

"Space!" Synalla screamed happily, pulling herself up through the hole into the large hallway above.

"Oi oi, don't forget what we came here for, Granny!" Gino's voice floated up from behind her, making her twist around to look back down the hole, where her fishman friend was holding the weapons that had been taken from them, his own spiked iron knuckles already snugly fit on hands. "Now think fast!"

"Ahh! Be careful, these are not projectiles, you barbarian!" Synalla screamed as she fumbled to catch the tessen that her crewmate ate thrown carelessly up to her. "Not in _your_ clumsy hold, anyway!"

"What was that you said, filth? 'We're still in a fight,' right?" Tondue's voice made both pirates freeze, along with the realization that he had his titanium nails on Synalla's long throat. "You should take your own advice!"

"...Okay, I'll admit you're right," Gino agreed solemnly, setting Stormfall carefully on the ground before jumping up to the same floor as his Nakama and the guard putting her life in danger. He knew Maven would have his ass if there was even a scratch on her precious weapon. Synalla too, but she would be fine. Gino'd make sure of it.

"Oh? You're not going to use that battle axe?" Tondue asked, eyebrow raised. "I thought fishmen were supposed to be unnaturally strong."

"Compared to most humans, we are," the shark fishman agreed, slamming his fists together so his iron knuckles made a loud clang ring through the room. "That's why all I'll need are my fists and these spiked knuckles. Of course, I also can't let that axe get damaged. No offense, but our captain is _way_ more intimidating than you."

—*—*—*—*—*

"Rubber arm!" Maven smiled widely as she and Cala waddled down the hallway. She raised their intertwined right arms, making them jiggle and bounce like rubber. "Her power must make human limbs stretchy so that she can knit them! Man, this must be what Luffy feels like all the time!"

"Is Luffy your little brother?" Cala asked, slightly annoyed by Maven's careless attitude (and it felt weird when she moved their arms like that too so he wished she would stop), but she didn't speak about herself or her family often so he hopped at the chance to discover more about the person he signed away the last of his life to.

"Yeah!" Maven said happily. Too busy trying to waddle down the hallway without tripping over Cala and waving their stretchy arms around like a little kid, she didn't realize she was talking about personal stuff that she usually kept close and secretive about. Part of her felt like she'd be abandoning her friends, her _crew_ , when she left to join up with Luffy, so she kept herself from talking about him or much of her life growing up with him and their brothers. She felt like it wasn't fair to her crew if she went around talking about the people that would take her away from them. "Luffy ate the gum-gum fruit, so he's a rubber man. He's a total idiot! Zehehhehhehheh!" She shook her head happily. "But he always makes even the worst situations bearable. He has fun even when his life is in danger, he has no sense of self preservation! Zehehhehheh! And our motto? 'The only thing worse than living alone if dying alone, so nobody in our crew is allowed to do either'? That's from him! Except the second half was 'So we won't let you,' when he said it originally," she explained, only realizing what she was saying once they turned the corner and saw Kilik, Dyan, Katie, and Raz kneeled in front of a cell door and staring at them.

The pirate captain's cheeks immediately tinted slightly pink, and she looked away. "A-ah. Hey guys! Who are you trying to break out?"

"Who's that?" Cala asked at the same time, the two people waddling over to their crewmates, who were still gaping at them. There was a boy in there, maybe somewhere in his early twenties, with bright cyan hair and intelligent hazel-brown eyes that shone with kindness. He was covered in bruises and his bright hair was mussed and tangled, dark circles were even starting to form under his eyes. In the cell with him was a man somewhere in his forties or fifties, solidly built and with slightly graying black hair and matching goatee that reminded Maven instantly of a certain Vice-Admiral geezer. Except this man was much more normally sized, and without the unique energy that permeated the very air and screamed "Crazy Idiot" around him like Garp did.

"What kind of weird situation is going on if you're talking to strangers?" Maven asked, turning to her crewmates with furrowed eyebrows, Cala nodding in agreement with her question behind her. Kilik and Dyan instantly snapped, both boys yelling:

"YOU'RE THE ONES WITH YOUR ARMS TWISTED TOGETHER UNNATURALLY! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO _YOU?!_ "

"We were taken down in ten seconds flat. At the same time," Maven replied without hesitation, not seeming the least bit bothered about it. "Yalla's dealing with that enemy now."

"YOU LEFT OUR YOUNGEST MEMBER ALONE WITH SOMEONE WHO TOOK YOU AND CALA OUT ON THEIR OWN?!" Kilik yelled again, hands tearing at his hair in frustration.

"You're the one who said she shouldn't fight without a chaperone yet," Katie added with a soft frown. Maven leveled a serious look at them, the corners of her mouth tilted down.

"Ah. Except Yalla's the only one who can take that woman down right now. I don't want to go all out this far towards the start of the Grand Line. She can knit anything like yarn because of her devil fruit. That's why our arms are currently doing their best imitation of dead octopus tentacles," she proved her point by bringing her and Cala's intertwined arms up and wiggling them mercilessly, making Cala go green at the odd sensation. He was still in his half transformation, but the green tinge showed even through the thin fur on his skin.

Kilik, Katie, Raz, and Dyan all sweatdropped at how Maven didn't notice the torture she was putting her navigator/scout through.

"I'm Cyan," the bright blue haired boy said, his soft but firm voice instantly bringing the wacky captain back to the present. "I'm the Prince. My older sister Lyan is the Queen, but Dyan—" he nodded to the small forest-haired boy. "Put me in his will as the next King. Lyan is a greedy woman who is more like a spoiled kid than a ruler, and she has a hand in most of the major crime rings in the kingdom because of that. Anyone who goes against her gets framed for a crime and executed."

"What does that have to do with us? I mean sure, you look like a good guy and I'm sympathetic, but— Wait, Dyan our _you_ in _his_ will?" Maven's head shot to her shortest member, her grey eyes wide. "You're the King?!"

"I ran away," Dyan admitted, rubbing his forehead in annoyance that he had to repeat his story. He brought Maven and the scout up to date with what was happening. His captain hummed, nodding.

"Okay. If you want to help Ceres, we'll help you. Gino and Synalla are still looking for our weapons, they were confiscated when we were arrested. Yalla is fighting the Monarch Guard we ran into—"

"Nitanya," the goatee man interrupted, standing up and coming closer to the cell door. He was clearly a military man like Garp was, and his mere presence was making Maven uncomfortable even though she knew he wasn't her grandfather. He felt strong, but only decently and not at all like a monster like the geezer. Still, the resemblance made her antsy and unable to stay still. "She's the reason I'm still alive. I'm Tendyin, I used to be Dyan's Head Monarch Guard. I ate the relax-relax fruit, I can massage people's bodies to adjust their shape and abilities. They need me alive to unwind Nitanya's victims, she isn't very good at undoing her own knitting."

"Great!" Cala turned him and Maven around so he was facing the seastone bars of the cell, leaning towards them desperately. "So you can undo us if we get you out! Hurry guys, pick the lock!"

"THAT'S WHAT WE WERE DOING BEFORE YOU SHOWED UP!" Dyan yelled angrily, making Raz cover his mouth to hide a chuckle. The sight of an angry little kid, even though they all knew he wasn't _actually_ a kid, made even the stoic doctor unable to hide all his amusement. Katie was biting her lip to keep in her own laugh, and gently pushed the Cala-Maven amalgamation out of the way so she could go back at the lock of the cell with lock picks she had decided to carry after they broke Gino out of that slave sale after leaving Fishman Island the first time.

"So… you'll help? You'll help me restore peace to Ceres?" Cyan asked, eyes wide and hopeful. Maven snorted, raising an eyebrow.

"No. That's _your_ job," she said ruthlessly. "We're just going to help you get started by bringing your sister down and exposing her crimes. Restoring peace is a longer job that falls to the King's responsibility."

"Still… still, thank you!" Cyan lowered his head in thanks. "Thank you!"

"Lesson one," Maven reaches through the bars to raise Cyan's face to her's. "A King shouldn't bow his head to pirates."

— ***—*—*—*—***

**one more chapter before you are caught up with Fan fiction . Net**

 

 

**As always, thank you guys so much for reading! See you next chapter~**


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I lied. I just updated chapter 20 on fanfic, so i guess you are still a chapter behind :/ xD

**A/N: I realized that Maven said in the previous chapter that Luffy was the one that said "the only thing worse than living alone has to be dying alone, so we won't let you," when that was actually** _**Ace.** _ **But I'm too lazy to go back and fix it right now, so just imagine that she told Cala what Luffy** _**actually** _ **said back then! Thanks! :3**

— ***—*—*—*—***

Perfect white teeth gritted together, pale yellow eyes gleaming with determination. _Think like Maven!_ Yalla ordered herself as she was being strangled by a scarf of her own blood. _Maven wouldn't let herself die like this!_ Taking as deep of a breath as she could, Yalla focused hard on her body. It was easy to turn her arms or legs into ribbons, but the rest of her was harder. She could slowly feel her throat collapsing into fabric, and used that moment to bring her ribbon arms up into the new gap between the blood-scarf and her neck-ribbon. All at once, she turned her neck and arms back into their normal form, ripping apart the dancing threads of blood-yarn.

"Gah!" Yalla gasped, relieved that she could breathe freely again. _No time to waste!_ The thirteen year old thought frantically, jumping into the air. _I'm an acrobat. So let's do acrobatics!_ Head clear after the near-brush with death and focus newly honed onto defeating Nitanya, the pink haired girl flipped and twisted in midair to avoid the newly-knitted blood scarf that was trying to snap around her like a snake.

"No! No! Die! Stop moving, nya!" Nitanya was getting more irritated by the second, her needles firmly in floating puddles of blood as she knitted it, sending the deadly scarf through the air after the young acrobat. "Die-nya! Die-nya! Die! Nya!"

Yalla let out a breath, forcing herself to stay calm as she pushed one foot off the wall to avoid the weapon. The scarf splashed onto the wall, losing a large chunk of it as the blood came undone and stained the stone. Yalla's eyes widened. _So liquid that she knits can only stay under her control if it doesn't hit something solid very hard!_ Yalla realized, grinning. She landed nimbly on the ground right in front of the Guard, the fingertips of one hand brushing the ground for balance as she smirked up at the older woman.

"Can't~Catch~me~!" Yalla almost purred playfully, her eyes narrowed in a challenge. Nitanya let out a shriek of outrage, trying to kick the girl away. Yalla was faster though, kicking off the floor and off of one of the walls, staying in motion as she bounced around the room and off the walls, ceiling, and floor like a rubber ball. The scarf hit the floor— another portion lost in a new splatter of blood. Yalla's cuts had stopped bleeding for the most part, which she figured was good. Didn't need to give Nitanya more ammo, after all. Soon the scarf was only two feet long, and Nitanya realized she wasn't within reach of any of the splashes to make it longer again.

"Shi—" Nitanya was cut off before she even finished her word, Yalla landing on the Guard's back and wasting no time shooting ribbons from her fingertips and wrapping the Monarch Guard tightly in them from shoulders to ankles. Soon Nitanya looked like a mummy, wrapped completely in Yalla's red-pink ribbons and unable to move. The woman's knitting needles stuck out from between layers of the fabric, and Yalla grinned as she plucked them out of the Guard's restrained grip and held them up teasingly.

"You won't be so strong without these, huh? I'll break them!" The girl threatened, holding the needles at either end and using all her strength.

Nothing happened, even as sweat formed on Yalla's forehead. She could feel the deadpan that Nitanya was giving her; Yalla didn't have the physical strength to even break two wooden knitting needles.

"Ah, forget it! I need to find Maven-Chan and the others!" The teen just gave up, throwing the wooden weapons over her shoulder with sudden boredom on her face as she pulled a pair of scissors from her belt and snipped off the ribbons from where they came out of her fingers. With that done, Yalla turned to walk down the hallway she had seen Maven and Cala use.

—*—*—*—*—*

Gino felt sweat start to drip down the back of his neck as he stared down Tondue, their eyes boring into one another as neither of them moved. Tondue thought that Gino was waiting for an opportunity to strike, and kept all his focus on the buff fishman.

"Wrong choice," The woman snakeneck's voice cut through Tondue's fog of thought, making him gasp as he felt the woman's hand suddenly grasping the wrist that held the knife against her neck. Synalla's flexible throat bent down, wrapping around to cover Tondue's eyes.

"Grah!" The dancer exclaimed, caught off guard as Synalla's seemingly weak hand easily twisted, making a sharp _snap_ that indicated (besides his own sudden wave of hot pain) that she had just broken his wrist, making him drop his knife. He danced away instantly, a grimace taking over his face at his new injury. The woman he had just threatened smirked and walked over to pick up her Tessen again, spinning them in her grip easily as she turned and assumed a dance pose.

"Now, we can _dance!"_ Her melodic voice turned dark and predatory, a matching smile overcoming her lips as her fishman crewmate easily walked up to her side with his sharp white teeth flashing through his own wide grin. At that moment, Tondue's eyes grew wide and his face went pale as he was struck through with terror he had never before felt.

"I-I-Inhuman!" He screeched, instantly making the two pirates twitch and their expressions darken further. "Inhuman! Your whole crew! Inhuman! Evil! Demons, demons, you are all _demons!"_ The guard forced himself to remain steady, steel entering his gaze and his posture instantly correcting itself. "No, no no no! For her majesty, I must completely erase any demons that wrongfully step onto this sacred soil! Die! Die, demons, die!" The dancer leapt towards them, somehow moving faster than before. Gino gritted his teeth, feeling the other man's steel nails dig into his skin. Tondue was too fast to follow with their naked eyes.

"Our Haki is getting a workout," Synalla whispered with a grimace. Gino only nodded, both of them ignoring the searing scratches that seemed to randomly form over their skin from the vague blur of movement that they knew was Tondue.

Both pirates took a deep breath, spreading out their Observation. Instantly, Tondue's presence and intent flashed into their mind. Where they had previously been sitting ducks, they were now able to fluidly move around the nearly invisible dance-attacks. All they needed was the fraction of a second of warning that their Haki provided in order to dodge the royal guard.

"Good thing Maven was able to teach us this," Gino grunted as his much more clumsy body (compared to the two dancers he was with) ducked to avoid a barely visible high kick. His observation was shakier since he was a more recent addition to the crew, but his life in Fishman Island right on the border to the New World helped grease his way a little. "Else we'd prob'ly end this fight a lot more banged up than we're actually gonna be."

The snakeneck rose her fans above her head, spinning gracefully and snapping one arm down in a blur of motion, her bladed weapons slicing through the blur that was Tondue and splattering his blood onto the floor. The guard's motion didn't even waver. "You know," Synalla started, voice sounding conversational despite the slight gasp behind it. Her weak lungs were kicking in. "There typically isn't much talking during ballets."

Gino snorted, his fist flying out in a straightforward right hook, landing straight into Tondue. The fishman's spiked knuckles dig into the guard's flesh, producing wide circles of blood before the male dancer's body flew off the weapon and into the wall. Synalla crinkled her nose at Gino's barbaric display of strength and his brutish weapon. "There you go again, Granny," Gino teased, his gaze flicking over to his crewmate. Synalla ran a hand through her zig-zagged black hair, huffing in indignation even as they quickly ran up to Tondue to confront him if he was still awake after the vicious strike.

Sure enough, the man hopped right back up onto his ice-skate-like shoes, hissing. A large gash went from his hip to his ankle on his left leg, sluggishly dripping blood from when Synalla had slashed him a moment earlier.

"I'm an artist!" He called out dramatically, swinging his arms out to either side of him despite how that must have strained the holes in his chest from Gino's spiked knuckles. "And a true artist does not only take care to shape the main focus of their art, but also develop a compelling background!"

"Did I hit you too hard?" Gino asked bluntly, dropping into a battle stance. Tondue laughed. A low rumble began to sound around them, but only Synalla seemed to notice since her head was closest to the ceiling. The female dancer looked up, her eyes instantly finding a thick crack in the stone and her eyes widening as she followed it, slowly realizing what Tondue meant by his cryptic words.

"No, but thank you for not being observant!" Tondue laughed loudly as the room began to shake even more violently. "I dare say, your lunch was even harder than I needed it to be!" The guard leapt away from the crater his body had made in the wall, tucking into a graceful roll to soften his landing. Not a moment too soon, as he first chunk of the ceiling fell to land with a large _THUNK_ right where he had been standing dramatically a second earlier. Gino hurriedly swing his head up, taking in the deep slash marks that crossed around the ceiling like a carefully planned spider's web— all designed to slam the ceiling down on top of the side of the room that Gino was on.

"You dirty moth—" the rest of the fishman's words were cut off as half of the ceiling tile landed on top of him and brought up a heavy cloud of dust. The floor right below the fishman decided to give way that moment as well, helped by the already existing hole leading to their previous dungeon cell and sending the buff pirate down another story.

Synalla clenched her hands around her tessen, fury lighting up her eyes. She took in a deep, difficult breath of the Now dusty air. It was aggravating her diseased lungs, but she was swamped by the sudden intense conviction that she rather die than let Tondue go unpunished for his stunt. Of course, the anger Synalla felt at not having noticed Tondue also slicing up the ceiling and floor with his razor sharp nails and foot-blades also helped spur on the fighter inside her.

"I can tell you're really pleased with yourself," her voice was a dark, cold whisper towards the wounded Guard as she bent her knees and elbows and flicked her fans all the way open, glinting steel at the edges aimed directly at the man. "Don't worry. I'll fix that _real quick._ I'll make you regret every last slice it took you to pull that trick off."

—*—*—*—*—*

I swung my arms, eyebrow raised as I saw Cala sobbing in relief while slumped on the floor next to the wall. It was nice to get a taste of what having rubbery arms was like, though I knew that it was much different for Luffy. Cala and I hadn't had any control over our limbs when they were knitted together like Luffy had over _his_ body. Still, it was nice to imagine myself as the little brain-dead ball of sunshine that I call a brother for a hot minute.

"what are you whining about? Our arms are normal now. Tch. So boring."

"I HOPE I AM NEVER KNITTED TOGETHER WITH YOU EVER AGAIN!" The Lynx Zoan wailed, pointing at me accusingly. "It felt so _weird_ feeling our bones all rubbery and how they shuffled around whenever you moved our arms! But you just _kept on waving them around!_ "

I blinked at him, tilting my head. "Oh. Get over it, big baby, we have a Kingdom to save and asses to kick," I stated blandly. "Asses don't just kick themselves, you know? Unless someone is just _really_ enthusiastically jogging or something, then it's just—"

"Oooookay," Katie interrupted me before I could finish my thought, a familiar exasperated look coming over her face as she glanced over to me. "Let's stop talking about stuff that doesn't matter. Cyan, Dyan, Tendyin? Care to give us the basics on the Queen and what we should expect when we get to the throne room?"

The bright Cyan-haired Prince (did the universe plan these names out? Because it has one hell of a punnybone if it did) nodded and leaned against the wall of the dim hallway. His eyes landed on me, probably singling me out as the leader despite Dyan being his predecessor to the throne. I _was_ the Chibi King's captain, after all.

"Lyan gained a devil fruit sometime after Cyan left— or maybe she got it before and just kept it secret. Anyway, that devil fruit is what allowed her to take down all three previous Monarch Guard's so easily. We haven't been able to figure out exactly what her abilities are, but they seem to allow her to summon monsters. The three she appointed to replace the old Monarch Guards— Tondue, Nitanya, and Fountain— are loyal to her but don't actually know anything about her criminal activity other than locking people up for her ambition. They almost worship her, thinking that anyone who gets on her bad side deserves to be thrown in jail anyway."

"Also," Tendyin joined in, the addition of his gruff voice making me jump slightly. I tried to look at him, but kept seeing Gramps in his face and had to look away before I got war flashbacks to all the "training" sessions the geezer had put me through. "Lyan has two friends who are members of of some organization— real artists who like paying this place a visit sometimes. Mister Three and Miss Goldenweek. They arrived here a couple days ago—" I mentally cursed. I couldn't do anything that might screw up the Alabasta adventure in the future, because chances are that any change I made would only make things harder and more dangerous when Luffy, me, and the crew had to face off Baroque Works. I'd have to make sure the operatives got out safely, despite not liking Mister Three very much from my memories of his character.

"What organization, do you know?" Raz's bland voice brought me rapidly back into the conversation at hand. Tendyin grumbled in thought for a moment.

"Starts with a B. Bark Works, I think?" That made me smile.

"You mean _Baroque_ Works," I helpfully spoke up, stroking my chin once in thought. "I think I've heard of them—" and read about them, watched them, vaguely remembered all their deepest secrets. But my companions didn't need to know that. "Secret Organization of bounty hunters, very hush-hush, melodramatic Noir-style assassins. If these guys are as high up as their names suggest, then we should probably be careful. But don't hurt them too badly if they turn out to not be that strong, either. They aren't directly involved, and we don't need an entire organization after us _on top_ of the Marines."

Dyan nodded. "They aren't bad, I've met them. Well, Mister Three is stuck up and shady— more Lyan's type of criminal crowd. But Miss Goldenweek is actually decent company."

"So, fight them if necessary but try to just knock out and set to the side. Got it," Kilik summed up with a nod. "Less people to worry about beating us to a pulp."

"I don't know," Dyan started, a smirk on his childish face. "Even a _hamster_ could beat _you_ into a bloody pulp, so you should still be very worried for yourself."

I turned around as Kilik began to try to strangle the life out of Dyan for that quip, smiling and cheerfully leading the way down the hallway. "Alright! Off to fi— I STILL DON'T HAVE STORMFALL BACK!"

"Um," Cyan inched forward, gently putting a hand on my shoulder so that I knew to move to the side and let him ahead of me. He stood with his hand on my shoulder for a moment, which was enough time for me to notice that we were the same height. "Maybe I should take the lead, since I know the way there. Though, you actually did start going the right way. I'm surprised."

I shrugged at him in response, thinking of how I used to wander around Colubo mountain without a single idea of where I was and always end up either back at the Bandit's hideout, Grey Terminal, or the treehouse in less than a day. "I seem to always end up exactly where I need to be, even if I'm completely lost," I told him easily. "I stopped carrying around maps because of that fact a long time ago."

Cyan just smiled and shook his head in disbelief, moving ahead of me to take the lead. With his bright head of hair in front of us, none of us got separated as we trudged through the dungeon tunnels towards the throne room.

I stopped us as we got to the entrance of the dungeon, pulling my Vivre Card out of my fedora's ribbon and starting to rip it, handing out pieces to my crew members. "We need to be logical here," I whispered to them so my voice wouldn't carry. "We need Yalla, and I forgot to give her a piece of the Vivre Card before we split up," I ignored the curious looks from Cyan and Tendyin, who likely spent their whole lives in Paradise and had no idea what the Card was. "So Kilik, Cala, I want the two of you to try to find her. You should be able to track her scent or hear where she is, right Cala?" The Zoan (back in his human form) nodded. "Good. Gino and Synalla have a piece with them so they should be fine. I hope they hurry though, because I feel naked without Stormfall," as if to back up my words, my hands twitched and my arm came up to pat the area over my shoulder on reflex. So help me, if there was a chip or scratch on my baby then both of them would be volunteered as Raz's guinea pigs for a whole _week._ He hadn't been pranking anyone lately, but it was just a matter of time before he got back into it.

"So that leaves me, you, Raz, and Dyan on the assault team," Katie mused as we watched Cala transform into a huge Lynx that reminded me of a certain member of the Spade Pirates (the similarities nearly killed me of laughter when I first realized them) and began to sniff around the tunnels before leading Kilik further into the dungeons once again.

"Ahem," Tendyin cleared his throat pointedly, looking at up with his arms crossed and a _familiar familiar, run away!_ Look on his face. "Prince Cyan and I are also here, you know. We will also fight."

"Old friend," Dyan spoke up, looking up at his old Guard. "Maven and my crew don't know anything about you or Cyan's strength. But you also know nothing of ours. Watch us fight first, and _then_ decide if you need to step in."

"But Cousin!" Cyan has a worried look on his face. "Should you really be—"

"Don't finish that sentence," I cut the king-to-be off before he could say another word. His hazel brown eyes flashed up to meet mine, and I held them steadily. "He is not your King anymore, he is our crewmate. And Hopeless Pirates don't worry about whether they _should_ do anything, only if they _can_ or _will_ or _want to._ We don't baby one another, and we certainly don't allow ourselves to be babied by outsiders. Come on, standing here talking is boring."

Cyan snapped his mouth shut, staring at me for a long moment before relenting and turning back around to lead the way up to ground level. As soon as we got up, as had to duck around a corner. Soldiers and noble guests were running around in a panic, screaming and trying to flee.

"PART OF THE BUILDING COLLAPSED! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"

I ran a hand down my face, knowing Yalla didn't have enough brute strength to cause something like that. "If Gino hurt Stormfall…" I muttered darkly. "And they were just supposed to get the weapons and get out. What the hell are they doing?"

"Maven, over here," Cyan's whisper found my ear, and I turned to see everyone else had already vanished through a secret passageway in the wall, and Cyan was holding it open for me. I blinked, nodding and running in after everybody. I caught up to the Geezer-lookalike and my crew, with Cyan right behind me as we ran up the passageway, which was a long ramp curling upwards through the palace walls.

We exited into a large open area, devoid of the panic of the lower floor. Instead, there was a single person standing in front of the doorway.

The mystery woman had long black hair pulled into a tight, curled ponytail at the top of her head. She stood holding a calligraphy brush, which made me tilt my head. Miss Goldenweek was a child, wasn't she? Then… who was this person, and why was she holding a brush?

"Hello hello," The woman said in a bland tone that immediately made me turn to Raz.

"A relative of yours?" I asked with a straight face, and Raz decided to play along by shrugging.

"Never met her, but it's possible," he smirked slightly before all traces of emotion fled his face and he stood in his usual, deceptively relaxed stance.

"I am Fountain, the Head Monarch Guard," she informed us, waving her brush in the air. "You are not allowed to be here. Leave before I kill you."

Raz looked over at me, and I raised an eyebrow at him in return. Our silent conversation was one that we had frequently— " _can I attack now?" "Wait until we know what their skills are." "Party pooper."_

Suddenly, a thin river of black liquid rose into the air from the woman's hand. It spun around her for a moment, then landed on the calligraphy brush.

"I ate the Ink Ink devil fruit," Fountain informed us helpfully, her voice still bland and void of all emotion. "I am an Ink Person. I shall kill you with my poetry."

The woman's brush waved through the air in elegant motions, leaving behind floating lines of ink in midair. The word _mortality_ stood in gorgeous calligraphy in front of us for a moment before the Ink came to life, shooting towards us like intelligent, floating serpents.

"Now?" Raz asked calmly as we all dodged, leaving the Ink to cover Cyan from head to toe and lock him in place. I sighed.

"Most likely a Logia," I said regretfully. "You need Haki."

"Obviously," he replied, sending me a brief reproachful look as if he was insulted that I should think he'd forget about that.

I sighed. "Raz, Katie, she's all yours. Dyan, Tendyin," I grabbed the immobile Cyan around the waist and lifted him over my shoulder easily. "Let's go around them! Follow me!"

I ran to the side, away from the Ink blasts and towards the hallway.

"Maven! The throne room is through the doors Fountain is blocking!" Cyan shouted from my shoulder, wriggling in my grasp. "Where are you going?!"

"This is the kingdom of art," I said with a wicked smile. "Use a little imagination, Prince," once I got us far enough away from the Ink blasts, I turned and _kicked_ a hole through the wall. Dust rose in dense plumes, and my crewmate and I wasted no time dashing into the opening. Tendyin hesitated, but followed us. I set Cyan down by the wall, the Ink starting to dry and crack on him. Soon enough it would flake off enough for him to move, but I hoped we wouldn't need him to.

"Dyan!" I yelled. "You're up!"

The shortest member of my crew nodded, turning to face the row of soldiers charging at him. They all hesitated upon seeing him, the sight of their missing king creating the perfect opening for the tiny devil fruit user.

"Child-child: Big Family!" Dyan muttered, making eyes contact with every member of the line. One by one, they straightened up and turned to form a protective circle around Dyan, their weapons aimed towards the figure at the throne.

Her hair was navy blue, coiled into complicated braids and coils on her head beneath the wiry silver crown on her head. Her acidic green-yellow eyes clashed with her blue hair and outfit, radiating superiority and disgust as she looked over us. The woman didn't make a single move to rise from her chair. Beside her were the two agents we had been warned about, the obnoxious number 3 made out of hair standing out like a sore thumb next to the innocent little girl in twin braids. Goldenweek didn't even have her paints out, so I assumed we had caught them by surprise.

"Anyone who is not directly connected to Ceres," my voice rang out through the eerily silent room. "You can leave. We only have business with the Guards and Lyan."

Contrary to what I had worried about before, Mister Three looked relieved and immediately stood and fled. I blinked after him in confusion and surprise, watching the much more relaxed Goldenweek jog after her partner. The Queen sneered after them, but didn't say anything out loud. She shook off her betrayal, and turned to face us.

All of the Throne Room Guards were turned against her, she had her head Monarch Guard occupied by the door, her brother and a previous guard free and against her, her predecessor standing as her enemy, and a pirate captain all ready to fight her. But she didn't look worried at all. Slowly, the woman stood. Her navy blue floor-length dress fanned around her feet, rippling elegantly with her every movement and draping over her curves. She smiled a cold smile at us, lifting her hands palm-up in front of her.

"Well. The biggest thorns in my side have come to sacrifice themselves for my sake. How pleasant. However, I'm afraid you stand no chance against the abilities of my Nerd-Nerd fruit."

I blinked, not sure if I heard her right.

"Wait— What?"

The Queen ignored me, two decks of cards materializing in her hands. "My devil fruit allows me to use these magical beast cards and bring to life any creature on them. I have an army that you cannot hope to stand up to. So die elegantly for me, will you?" She combined the decks into one, swiftly drawing a card from the top with her perfectly manicured fingertips. With barely a glance, she threw the card towards us. It hovered above the ground for a moment, then shone white and morphed into a serpentine orange dragon. I blinked as realization clicked in my head.

It was basically a trading card game! Like Yugio come to life! _Now_ the name Nerd-Nerd fruit made sense.

"Dyan?" My head swung to my crewmate, who was staring down the dragon. A bead of sweat ran down his forehead as he shook his head to answer my unspoken question.

"I can't use my powers on it. I think my powers only work on living things, not things made from other devil fruit abilities."

Well shit.

If I had Stormfall, those nerd creations would be child's play to get rid of— but I didn't. Which meant I was back to brawling, just like during the month long Requiem for Lin. I needed to get Stormfall back soon or else I'd get rusty with it.

"Okay. Wrestling a dragon, then. That's a first," I muttered as I charged in, aided by the soldiers that were under Dyan's control.

"Ooh, strong~" the Queen purred as she saw me flip the dragon over, depleting the little bar labeled "health" that hung over its head, making it disappear in a rain of shards. She flicked two more cards out at me, which formed into two-headed bear creatures with armor. "If I kill you, I'll be able to make you into a brand new card for my deck. I could use someone like you as my soldier."

"Yeah, fuck you lady," I said with a roll of my eyes as me and the soldiers split apart to tackle one near each. "You'll never win many fights relying toys like this."

—*—*—*—*—*

Katie drew back her bowstring, the normally pearly white weapon and the arrow notched on it coated in the steely black sheen of Armament Haki. She let the arrow loose, almost instantly replacing it with another. Fountain turned her body into ink, fluidly dodging the arrows. The first one that Katie had fired had struck the Monarch Guard in the chest, narrowly missing her vitals thanks only to Fountain's accidental movement in just the right direction. That shot had warned Fountain to how the blackened arrows would hurt her despite her Logia abilities, and put her on the defensive.

Otherwise, the battle would have ended much faster.

"Katylan!" Raz called, holding his interlocked hands out for her. Understanding, the first mate ran over, using the doctor's hands as a foothold to launch herself into the air. She spun herself horizontal, aiming three consecutive shots overhead at the Monarch Guard before she landed in a fluid tuck and roll. Raz always used full names during battle, though nobody except him knew why.

Fountain dodged the three shots, sending columns of ink dancing towards the blonde. Raz scoffed, pulling out tightly packed spheres of powder from his pocket.

"Don't focus on the archer alone, idiot. Sadism Smoke: Haze!" He tossed both of the orbs to the ground, where they burst open and released thick, powdery smoke that swirled between Fountain and Katie, making Ink splash to the ground as the guard lost sight of her target. The woman tsked, turning to attack Raz only to realize that he had disappeared.

"What?!" Emotion entered her voice for the first time. She knew the doctor hadn't disappeared behind the smoke with his partner, so where—

"Sloppy," a monotone voice spoke softly, sinisterly, right into her ear. She found herself absolutely frozen by the dark tone and the sharp needle she could feel at her throat. She didn't need to see it to know that it was coated in the same blackness that allowed the arrow to hit her before. "Don't you know the quiet ones are the most dangerous?"

Fountain felt something cold flow into her inky veins, and she dropped to the ground a moment later.

"Sadistic Syringe: Anesthetic Hell."

"That name's too long, change it," Katie complained as she walked around the herbal smoke and laid eyes on their defeated foe. There was no heat to her words— Raz would do whatever he wanted, and only Maven had a chance at ordering him around. For a moment, both pirates silently looked down at the Monarch Guard, a sense of disappointment glaring up in them.

"... this was the Head Monarch Guard, so she had to have been the strongest of the three. What the hell is taking the others so long, then?" Katie wondered out loud, tilting her head. Raz chuckled.

"Please. We're practically assassins, and we're the most senior members of the crew. Obviously we're better than the others."

"Tone down that superiority, and let's go help Maven," but despite her words, Katie couldn't help a smirk at Raz's attitude. It was obvious he liked the crew anyway, his words wouldn't convince any of them otherwise.

—*—*—*—*—*

Tondue had thought they were demons. Now he thought that the woman _was the devil. The absolute devil!_

"You want to bury my friend?! Let's see how you like being buried!" Synalla snarled at the dancing guard, her tessen blurs in the air as she _swung. Swung. Swung_ her bladed fans in sharp, intricate slashes towards him. It was all the man could do to twirl away, barely escaping the steel fangs of her weapons.

"Nobody! Hurts! My crew!" A lightning-quick foot, almost as quick as his own, swung straight up towards his face before he could dodge it. Tondue felt his nose shatter, sending his backwards into a group of fleeing nobles. They shrieked and groaned in pain beneath him, but he just rolled off them as if he didn't even realize they were there. What were the idiots doing so close to the caved in area, anyway?

Ignoring the deafening pain in his face, Tondue was immediately forced to shoot up and dodge another swift attack from the snakeneck. He was gasping for breath, but so was the woman. He could even hear soft whistling coming through her throat with every breath— she was wheezing heavily. Every breath must have felt like fire burning the inside of her throat, he realized. She must have felt as if an elephant was sitting on her chest, but she still moved just as quick as he did and met him blow for blow. What the _hell_ was driving her to fight through such agony?! And to _speak_ through it, no less!

"I'll… carve you… into bacon strips!" She wheezed out in between slashes of her handheld weapons. Suddenly the woman snapped one fan shut, making Tondue miscalculate its speed. The iron-ribbed weapon slammed into his ribs with the force of an iron mace, and he coughed out blood as he felt his bones cave in slightly. At least three ribs were broken, and he had to be careful not to strain that side of his body now or else he might puncture his lungs.

Now wheezing alongside her, Tondue turned to slash a bladed foot towards Synalla. The attack landed, making a bright red streak of blood appear on the woman's hip, but it was shallow. The snakeneck didn't even seem to notice it.

"You're a waste of time and space," the woman hissed, the whistle from her wheezing making her sound even more snakelike for a moment. Then Tondue felt both closed tessen slam into his head, one from either side, and he popped into unconsciousness on cue.

Chest heaving with the massive effort it took just to get the bare minimum of oxygen into her lungs, Synalla just stop there over Tondue's slumped form for a moment. She was dripping blood from her dozens of cuts, she knew that. But it didn't matter. Gino was—

"I'M NOT GONNA DIE!" The roar of a deep, _familiar_ voice drew Synalla's gaze sharply to her right, where a bruised blue body was pulling itself up onto her level. She just stood there for a moment, eyes wide. "I don't know how," the fishman grunted, heaving up a purple object next to him. "But I was able to save Stormfall from being crushed. Fucking lucky as hell, too, else Maven'd have my hide!"

Gino yelped as a steel-ribbed fan walked him mercilessly over the head. A bump rose up in the spot he was hit, and the fishman lifted his head to glare at the woman responsible. "That hurt like hell! What the fuck was _that_ for, granny?!"

"I thought you were dead!" Syanalla scolded, slinging her tessen on her belt before putting her hands on her hips as she loomed over the shorter man. "What the hell gives you the right to scare me like that?!"

"Are you stupid?" Gino asked, eyebrow raised and face blank. "I'm a fishman. A little building falling on top of me isn't gonna do anything but give me a headache in the morning. Though I might haveta visit doc later, I think I got a little concussion. Nothing to worry about though, so stop your worryin' granny. Besides, you know I can do half-decent Haki. Why the hell would a little fall like that _kill_ me?"

Synalla's face was red with embarrassment. "...um. Right! The Vivre Card!" She changed the subject quickly. "Let's get Stormfall to Maven! Come on, hurry it up!" Gino's stared at her for a moment before shaking his head with a sigh. He pulled the blackened card from his pocket, coughing out a few thorns and black rose petals as he did so. Synalla pretended not to notice, just like the buff pirate pretended not to notice the blood dripping from the corner of her lip or the whistles that came from her with every breath.

Those things weren't important anyway.

"They're above us," Gino reported, following the tugging of the tiny slip of charred paper. "C'mon. Maven probably got into another fight."

"Wouldn't surprise me at all."

—*—*—*—*—*

"Group card! Cat Ninjas!" Lyan screeched, stress and anger finally showing up on her overly-styled face. A card transformed into five small cats holding shuriken, which all split up to attack us. They were one of the weaker cards in upfront combat though, and only took one punch from me before they died and shattered into glowing shards. Lyan's deck was half as large as it had started at, and she seemed to not be able to choose the order of the cards in her deck.

Must shuffle itself, I thought idly as I watched two pearl white arrows slam into two of the Cat ninjas, making them dissipate. A scalpel slammed into the forehead of the fourth Cat, making it also shatter. The last one was tackled by Tendyin, who slammed an open palm into the cat's chest to kill it.

Lyan was gritting her perfectly white teeth, pulling two more cards from her deck. But this time, a dark smile overcame her lips as she laid eyes on what they were. She chuckled.

"Now the battle gets interesting! Corpse Card: Scholar! Corpse Card: Trickle!" The cards transformed into people. People who, by the way Dyan and Tendyin flinched, were likely dead people made into cards by Lyan.

Scholar turned into ink, making my blood turn cold. He must have had the ink-ink fruit before he died, which then got passed to Fountain. That was not right. That was sick. Killing somebody for their devil fruit was just twisted.

But scholar was obviously, even in death with blank and unseeing eyes, very adept at his abilities. He immediately sunk into the ground, becoming an ink-drawn version of himself that none of us could hit. Haki-infused arrows would hit his drawing-self, but only chip the ground as the ink refilled the ruined lines and continued to dart across the floor.

"I want Stormfall!" I bellowed as I dodged a razor-sharp needle of ink that suddenly rose up from the ground beneath me. Raz and Katie, who had joined us after defeating fountain, were similarly darting around sudden spikes of ink.

"He's much stronger than Fountain was outside!" Katie yelled over to me. "She must not have practiced with her powers very much," Katie panted as she was forced to then duck under a stream of floating sap that came from Trickle. Apparently that previous Guard also had a devil fruit, the sap-sap fruit. He was slow moving, but was capable of oozing past our attacks at the last minute or absorbing any non-Haki blunt force.

"RIBBON-RIBBON: PRETTY SCATTER!" Yalla's voice was like balm to my eardrums, making me light up as I looked over at her. She had a quickly darkening bruise around her neck that made me worried (and angry) for a moment, but I brushed it aside as she seemed to be acting normally. The thirteen year old's arms transformed into ribbons, knocking the deck of magic cards in Lyan's hand and scattering them out over the floor.

I grinned widely— smart girl! Once a "game" was started, she probably couldn't manifest her cards whenever she wanted. It had to follow rules just like any other card game, so Lyan had to gather her cards up by hand. Sure enough, the wrongful Queen bent down and started picking up her cards as quickly as she could, her movements frantic.

My moment of distracted caused me to be scratched by a slice of ink, a deep slice opening up across my waist, parallel to my hips. I jumped back, inspecting it myself. It was deep, but not life threatening. I'd just have to be careful. Now if only—

"HEADS UP, CAPTAIN!" Gino's voice carried through the throne room, making me cackle in glee as I shot my hand up to catch Stormfall by the pole.

"ABOUT GODDAMNED TIME!" I yelled back, my eyes darting over. I lost my smile almost instantly upon seeing the sheer amount of cuts and bruises covering the both of them, and the way that Synalla was hunched over on the floor in a position meant to open up the airways in her lungs to make it easier for her to breath.

They had both overworked. A small pile of black petals were at Gino's feet. I felt my mouth tighten into a stern line, and I reached one hand up to flatten my fedora lower on my head.

Cala and Kilik were tag teaming Trickle, Carla's Haki-covered claws ripping into the sap-man, and Kilik's Clock-Sword, also sheathed in Haki, cutting off the head of the reanimated man and making it disperse into shards of light. Katie and Raz, helped by Tendyin and Yalla, managed to make Scholar disperse into similar shards.

"Okay. Boss battle, finish!" I leapt forward, heaving Stormfall over my back and bringing it down. I didn't need Haki for Lyan herself; my plain blade was good enough.

The woman shrieked as I struck her, flying back from the force and letting go of her cards. The objects faded away, signaling her defeat in the game. I kneeled over her, pressing Stormfall's spear tip to her throat. My fedora cast a shadow over the front of my face, and I could tell the effect made Lyan's acidic yellow eyes lock into mine in terror.

"So. Dyan here," I jabbed my thumb over my shoulder at our childlike member. "He has something to say. Don't you, Dyan?"

The green haired man released the soldiers from his powers, standing as tall as he could (which was still pitifully short), authority filling his eyes for the first time since I had known him.

"As the previous King of Ceres! My heir has not been honored, my wishes have been ignored!" The soldiers, now alert, stared at the small man in shock. "Cyan is who I had selected as the next for the throne! Lyan, you are a traitor who ignored my wishes!"

I turned my head away to hide a snort at his dramatic speech, but it seemed to completely awe all the soldiers who witnessed it.

"Heh. Heheheh. To think you found friends to take me down," Lyan Hissed, raising her head just enough to catch a glimpse of her predecessor. "I'll seal their fate then, as a parting gift," After than I could react, I caught a shine of something in the wrongful Queen's hand.

"No!" My shout came too late, she had already stabbed the syringe of fatal venom into her thigh. "Fuck! Raz!" I pulled Stormfall away, plucking up the syringe and sniffing carefully. I grimaced; it was authentic. Before Raz even reached us, I could feel her skin cool slightly. A hand pressed to her neck detected no pulse.

"Well. Shit," Dyan whispered as he came up to my side with Raz.

"You'll be blamed for her death," Cyan spoke up, the last of the Ink flaking off of him and allowing him to stand. "You need to leave. The marines won't believe that pirates saved this place, they'll frame you for regicide."

"Yeah, nothing new there," I muttered, standing up with my mood generally ruined. I was battered and bruised and the cut on my side stung; Raz was already applying an herbal balm and bandaging it, forcing me to stand still.

"Guards!" Cyan yelled suddenly, making our gazes dart to him. The soldiers immediately stood at attention. "The Queen has died! I am next in line! Spread the story of her defeat and her criminal acts! Imprison the three Monarch Guards, Nitanya, Tondue, and Fountain! Get our heros to some good rooms in one of the safer wings—"

"My Queeeen!" All our heads swung to Fountain, who had awoken earlier than she was supposed to. "Die! Traitors die!"

A stream of ink shot into the floor, slicing straight into it.

"Oh not again," Gino groaned, jumping up from his resting spot to grab some of the more fragile of our crew members like Cala and Yalla. Tendyin was able to grab Katie, and I was just _barely_ close enough to both grab Dyan and wrap myself around as much of Synalla as I could, bracing ourselves even as the fall began. We tumbled down roughly, making a brand new hole through the side of the palace until we rolled out into the open. People all around the palace, including the large mass of nobles and soldiers who had been fleeing after part of the building collapsed earlier were out there staring at us. I growled under my breath, picking myself up and slowly going around the group to make sure everyone was okay. I vaguely registered Cyan and the soldiers who had witnessed Dyan's speech picking themselves up and starting to speak.

That wasn't my problem though. My job was done, the rest was up to the new King. Everyone seemed okay— at least, the fall hadn't damaged anyone more than they already had been. I held my hand out to Raz, who accepted it easily as I helped him up.

"Oh. Visitors," Raz whispered to me, making me raise an eyebrow and turn around, taking a step closer to the crowd of people around us. My eyes easily picked out what Raz had meant— a marine photographer holding up a camera in our direction.

I sighed, already pissed and tired and hurt and grumpy. So I pulled the first folded sign in my pocket that I could reach, flicked it open, and held it in front of me. After the camera flashed I looked down to see which one I had pulled and grinned— maybe my bad attitude would convince Luffy to take my warning seriously.

I turned to talk to Raz again (my wound hadn't been done being bandaged when we fell) only to see what he was holding.

Unrepentantly. He didn't even try to hide it as I turned around and saw a sign in his hands saying "Momma Maven" with and arrow pointing to me. I could feel my eye twitch, instantly lunging forward and snatching the paper from his hands.

"I told you! No parental nicknames! Fuck, Shanks will _never_ let me live this shit down now!" I growled as I shredded the paper in my hands angrily. "I can just hear him now—"

—*—*—*—*—*

"DWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Shanks sat at the newest island they had docked on, just a few days after the Ceres Kingdom incident. It was normal to find the drunkard pirate laughing his ass off, but it wasn't quite as normal for him to literally laugh so hard that he fell over when he was still actually sober. The redhead picked himself up, his smile nearly splitting his face in half as he waved the bounty poster over his head. "I WANT YOU GUYS TO MAKE COPIES OF THIS OR SOMETHING! DWAHAHAHAHA! Everyone— _snrk_ — Everyone needs to fear _Momma Maven,_ DWAHAHAHAHA!"

Yasopp leaned over his captain's shoulder to get a look at the poster, shaking his head with a smirk. "Well, guess Maven isn't all knowing even if she predicted her brother joining Whitebeard," the sniper said with a chuckle. "Wonder how Big Mom'll take this."

"Please," Shanks drawled, still snickering. "That woman won't even know Maven exists until her bounty is above three hundred million. But if the nickname sticks, _that_ will be interesting, dwahaha!" Shank's smile turned evil. "But let's make sure it sticks, eh?"

—*—*—*—*—*

Nope. Shanks would never let me live it down. I could feel the shivers going down my back from his plotting even before the bounty poster was made.

—*—*—*—*—*

**Eh? How was that? I feel like (after I broke through my writer's block) it was okay. But probably not as epic as I would like it, or as One Piece usually is. Idk. What do you guys think about the first real Maven Adventure?**

 

**Until the next chapter guys! Good to be back!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short one. I posted this chapter yesterday on Fanfic.net right before going to San Japan, so it’s not as long as most of the others. But I hope you like it anyway!

"Don't keep the ice on too long, you'll hurt your skin," Kilik chided softly, making the little pinkette look up at him with her soft yellow eyes and move the ice pack that was on her neck a little. It was the day after the Ceres Kingdom incident. It haven't taken long for them to be framed as murderers, despite Cyan doing his best to inform people otherwise. The marines wanted to portray the Pirates in as sour a light as possible, so they ignored Cyan's protests and spread word of the murderous Hopeless Pirates and their captain as quickly as possible.

Therefore, the whole crew had sailed off the very soonest they possibly could. Yalla had been to tired the night before to address the ugly bruise around her throat, but the moment she woke up she got ice and applied it to the sore area.

Yalla was noticeably closer to Kilik and Maven than anyone else on the crew. Kilik, after all, had been tortured on the government ship right alongside her for weeks. She still remembered the days that he was on the metal table beside her and constantly whispered encouragements to her whenever he could to keep her from getting too depressed or to distract her from the pain. And Maven was the one who ordered their rescue. She was like a big sister, and Kilik was the big brother. The family she had been missing since the government scientists kidnapped her.

"You've kept those swords for more than a week," Yalla pointed out, nodding to The weapons leaning on the side of the ship next to Kilik. The young man blinked, glancing at them before looking back at the little girl with a smile.

"Yeah," he ran a hand through his tousled cinnamon hair. "I really like them," the swords weren't really _traditional_ swords. Their handles were half-circle bars of metal wrapped in cloth like a normal hilt that connected to the large, circular blade. The blades would have been solid circles, except for the small curve taken out of the bottom to allow for the handle and space to hold it. The edge of the circular blade was razor sharp, and there were numbers carved around the edges and filled with black metal. They were clocks— Terminal Style. Kilik grabbed one, pulling it over onto his lap. Yalla gazed at it with him as he ran his fingers over the numbers.

"It takes different techniques then normal swordplay," Kilik told her, meeting her soft yellow eyes with a grin. "It feels more natural for me, actually. I think I'll keep them."

The little girl's eyes sparkled, and she looked up at her big brother figure in amazement. They had been traveling together for about a year and a half, and the whole time Kilik had been switching between wacky styles of sword to try and find his own personal fighting style. That he finally found it was amazing!

The thirteen-year-old's arms turned into their usual pink ribbons, wrapping Kilik in a tight hug. The man yelled, barely getting his sword away in time to avoid slicing up the ribbon girl.

"Hey! Be more careful when I'm holding sharp objects, you know you're easily cut!" Kilik scolded, returning the hug anyway. Yalla just giggled, pulling away and letting her arms return to normal.

"It's okay. I knew you were going to get it out of the way in time!" She spun in a circle, making the bottom edges of her kimono flow in a tight circle at her feet. The sun glinted off of the metal of the clock shaped blades, drawing Yalla's attention. The little girl shifted her gaze to the sky, seeing that the sun was almost directly overhead. She clapped her hands happily.

"It's my turn to cook lunch! What should I make?" She asked her friend, making Kilik, who was taking out his polishing equipment, blink and pause to consider the question.

"Well," he said slowly. "You know my favorite is your lemon pepper chicken. But I also like your salmon and veggies," he tilted his head, looking genuinely conflicted. Yalla watched him for a moment before laughing and turning to head into the galley.

"Okay! Ribs and rice with corn and mashed potatoes for sides!" She claimed happily, her pink pigtails swishing as she skipped.

"Oi!" Kilik called, dropping his polishing cloth. "That's Gino's favorite!" He called out, sounding as if he was scandalized. "No fair!"

"You didn't really do much yesterday," Yalla teased as she opened the door to the kitchen, sending a cheeky smile back at him. "Gino got beat up and had a whole ceiling dropped on him. I'll make his favorite lunch today, and _Synalla's_ favorite dinner later tonight~" with that, the ribbon girl closed the door behind her and started on the meal. Kilik sighed, wondering what was going through that girl's head.

Gino's favorite meal was definitely meant for dinner. Synalla's, which was salted and buttered spinach with balsamic chicken, was definitely more of a lunch-oriented dish.

Wait, why did he care again? After such a tiring day the day before and everyone having pretty much skipped breakfast from oversleeping, maybe a heavy lunch and lighter dinner would be good.

And why did he know everyone's favorite meals anyway? Kilik paused in his polishing and sighed. He blamed Yalla. It was definitely the little girl's fault, and the fact that her cooking was good enough for everyone to look forward to her turn in the kitchen, that caused him to learn about something so mundane.

"I feel less and less like a swordsman and more like a nanny with that girl around," he grumbled fondly, reaching for his sharpening equipment for the other clock-sword.

—*—*—*—*—*

I hummed, a three thousand point barbell over my shoulders as I did squats, staring at Cala's form in front of me.

"...Four hundred and twenty four…"

"Don't ignore me!" Cala growled, looking annoyed. I knew why, of course, but it was more fun seeing his reactions. The man threw up his skinny arms, clearly fed up with me. Unfortunately for him, seeing his annoyed was just too amusing. It was like watching a puffed up cat and scaring it again anyway just because it was too fun seeing their arched back and fur on end. "You just love making me uncomfortable, don't you?" He finally groused, heaving a heavy sigh of despair.

"Yep," I agreed shamelessly. Cala glared in response.

"Still," he bit out. "Don't you think picking me up to test how far you could throw me was a bit too far?" He asked slowly. My lips twitched.

"Four hundred meter—"

" _The results don't matter!"_

"Oh please, scaredy Cat," I teased. Four hundred and thirty-seven, my mental count provided as I continued the squats. "It wasn't that far to land, and you're the scout. I was helping increase your efficiency. You got your job done a whole half hour faster—"

"Only because I was so pissed off at you that I sped through my survey so that I could get back here and ask what was wrong with you," he narrowed his catlike golden eyes at me. I just chuckled.

"Four hundred and forty two."

"Oh my god," Cala groaned, running a hand through his hair. "I give up. I'll get back at you for that stunt though, Maven."

"Sure you will. Four hundred and forty five."

—*—*—*—*—*

A month after Ceres Kingdom.

"Run!" Gino yelled happily, turning to flee. Yalla, Kilik, and Dyan were with him as they walked around the island they were on to relax. Originally they had planned to head to an eating house or bar to relax (it didn't matter which, since only Gino really drank much alcohol in the group. The rest abstained for age or health reasons), but had run into—surprise surprise— Hina. Apparently the woman had been in town on vacation, and it was hilarious to see how the woman's whole body twitched when she saw them.

"Does the little boy need to be carried? You're lagging behind!" Kilik teased Dyan, the short man glowering at the cinnamon haired boy. The former king raised one hand, sending the young man a very rude one-fingered gesture that made their friends laugh.

"Don't tease Dyan about his height!" Yalla reprimanded her older brother figure as they ran, sending him a disapproving glare that was ruined by the mischief in her soft yellow eyes. "He did a lot more during the Ceres Kingdom Adventure _and_ the last raid on a rival ship."

"Okay, making the captain of the ship one of his Big Brothers is cheating," Kilik argued with the girl. "He got him to order his men to stand down and hand over their treasure. Then you and Granny Synalla jumped up to take care of anybody who tried to stop us before I could even move to do anything!"

"Not our fault you're slow," Yalla teased cheerfully. Kilik sighed in despair, his eyes shooting up to the sky.

"Why do teenagers have to be so mean?" He moaned to the sky as Gino and Dyan laughed at his misfortune. They had lost Hina a while back, since she had only had two other low ranking marines with her, and the group started to slow and relax in the streets again.

"Hey," Gino spoke up, seeing that they were in the market street. The fishman's low, serious tone immediately caught their attention. Like Maven, Gino was usually cheerful and carefree even in bad situations so hearing him serious was odd and attention grabbing. The small group followed the fishman to the opening of an alley, where they could stand to the side and not be in the way while they spoke. Gino leaned against the wall, crossing his muscular arms. His eyes remained on the crowd bustling down the busy market street even though his next words were soft and meant only for his crewmates.

"We should get Maven a gift," was not what they were expecting. His three companions blinked, but stayed silent so Gino could elaborate. Slowly, the buff man's gaze turned to his friends. "She's only mentioned it a few times, but I've been keeping track of the time. There's only a year and a half left now before she leaves the crew to join up with her younger brother," the information jolted his companions, making the three share a glance. A year and a half wasn't very long, they had already spent that long as a crew and it had flown by so quickly.

"I doubt she'll disband the crew," Dyan spoke up, tilting his head in thought. "She'll probably make Katie the official captain. Besides, she's the one that says that anyone who joins the Hopeless Pirates remains one of us even if they leave the crew," his deep teen gaze dropped to the ground at a sudden thought. "She'll almost certainly ask her family to bury her on Hopeless Island, no matter how long she spends outside the Hopeless Pirates before dying."

The four stood in silence for a moment.

"That's why we should get her a gift," Yalla said, looking up at Gino. "Right?" The shark fishman grinned, showing off a few of his sharp white teeth.

"Exactly," he nodded at the young teenager. "She's done so much for us, and she should get something from us to show that we appreciate her, no matter where she is."

"And we can give it to her in six months," Kilik suggested, hand on his chin in thought. "That way it marks exactly one year left for her in the crew, and shows that we support her decision."

His three crewmates nodded, small smiles on their lips.

"But what kind of gift would she like?" Gino asked, leaning his head back against the building behind him. "Getting fruit is boring. It won't last and it won't mean much, she steals mountains of it way too often," everyone chuckled at the reminder of how gluttonous their captain was when it came to fruit.

"She likes things that are useful," Yalla suggested. Being the only girl in the group, her input was useful— but not just because of her gender. Being the only girl, she was the only one that shared a room with Maven that was present in the group, and thus got to see Maven's daily routine and the things she used most. "She likes the earrings that Ace got her, she wears them almost every day, but she complains that earrings aren't practical for a fighter sometimes. But she also wears the dagger belt that her younger brother gave her, and constantly talks about how surprised she is that an— And I quote— 'idiot like him could be so sensible about gifts,' so I think she'd want something she could use a lot."

The boys let that soak in, wracking their heads for ideas.

"Something she can carry easily or wear," Kilik thought out loud.

"But also use pretty often," Dyan added, fluffy green hair waving in the wind.

"And not too girly…" Gino suggested.

"Not too common either, it should be unique!" Was Yalla's suggestion.

"Oh!" Kilik suddenly shot up, eyes wide and a smile taking over his face. His companions turned to him curiously.

"What'cha think of?" Gino asked.

"Gloves!" Kilik told them excited, looking around quickly as if expecting Maven to be eavesdropping nearby— which was totally something she would do if she happened to see them talking so secretively. The cinnamon haired young man lowered his voice. "She exercises so often and uses such a heavy weapon, it's surprising she doesn't use gloves more often. And the pair she has are worn almost to shreds as it is. Maybe I can even work special hinges into the finger joints, so that she can use them to work out her finger muscles in emergencies."

"You're finally being useful!" Yalla cheered, wrapping her brother figure in a suffocating hug. Kilik grunted at the force, not sure if he should be pleased at the compliment or annoyed at the implications behind it.

"Not bad," Dyan said appreciatively, eyebrows raised. "That can be you and Yalla's project then. Yalla can handle the stitching and design—"

"Seamstress powers!" The girl agreed, fist pumping.

"— and you do all the metalwork. I can get her hand measurements."

"You sure 'bout that?" Gino asked the tiny man, frowning in contemplation. "Maven gets suspicious pretty easily. It's like she can smell it when we start to plan something behind her back, _especially_ if it's something for her."

"Don't worry," Dyan said with a sigh. "I had her as a Big Sister under my powers for a whole week as a test and nobody noticed. She acted exactly the same as always and I doubt she even noticed what happened after I let her go. It's kind of scary how much being an older sibling is ingrained in her."

Yalla and Kilik chuckled nervously at the revelation, and Gino snorted. Yeah, that sounded like their wacky captain alright.

"Okay, if you can get her to hand over the measurements without getting suspicious then do it. I know some friends who I can get the materials from— there's a type of leather that is highly strain resistant and favored in the New World for durability," the buff fishman pushed himself off the wall, grinning. "It's only available on the black market though, so I'll have to go buy it myself."

"Operation Appreciation is a go!" Kilik said with a grin. "Me and Yalla are gonna go grab some new sketchbooks to design— we'll have to cooperate so that the mechanisms and the style of the glove work together."

"I'm gonna go find Maven and start slowly acting more and more weird so that she doesn't suspect anything when I ask for her hand measurements," the former King added in, and the four split up to start their various tasks for their new plan.

—*—*—*—*—*

"Why?" Cala groaned, looking up at the sky as if it could give him answers. "Why, God, have you decided that this would be my fate?"

I snickered. The Zoan user was annoyed because he was left alone to go inland with only me and Raz as company. Synalla and Katie had taken off, saying something about needing to go clothes shopping with only girls who weren't overly strong meatheads or under fifteen years old.

Picky.

The three of us were headed towards the market street to see if there was anything interesting to stock up on in there. Movement to my left distracted me, making me look over to see a large group gathered in the exact opposite direction as the market area. I blinked, my attention sufficiently distracted.

"Guys, I wanna see what's going on over there," was all the warning I gave my companions before I headed over, pushing my way past the tightly packed bodies gathered around in a circle until I was right in front and able to see what was going on. Cala and Raz shouldered their way up to me mere moments later. The sight made my lips stretch into a wide grin that made me vaguely feel like Luffy.

A magic show! I loved magic. Sleight of hand was always fun to watch, and the really good magicians could really put on an entertaining show with their personalities as well. The woman who was the magician smiled at the crowd, her bright red hair reminding me of Shanks. I doubted the two were related, but you never know. Pirates weren't always aware of when they aired children, after all. And Shanks _did_ party fairly often.

The woman's hair was cut into a short, stylish pixie cut that brushed just to the right of her face, narrowly avoiding covering her right eye. The back was boyishly short, cropped extremely close to her skull. Her voice was clearly a showman's, spreading easily above the curious chatter of her audience and filling the air.

"Welcome! I performed a few tricks, and it seems to have gathered quite the crowd. So for those of you just joining in, I am Azalea, your resident magician extraordinaire. And I am here to bring a little magic," she snapped, and a rose popped into her hand. She shot a sly smile to the crowd as they oohed appreciatively. "Wonder," she tossed the flower into the air, where it caught on fire and burst into bright red confetti, raining down over the whole crowd. "And inspiration," she spun in a circle, and suddenly her tailcoat changed from black to a statement white. "To your day! And hopefully, if today wasn't the best or something bad happened for you recently, you can forget all your troubles for just a moment. While you watch me, let your worries vanish like this—" she took her top hat, flipping it over her hand and making it seemingly vanish as it tipped over her wrist. "For there is no such thing as sorrow while I perform for you!"

I was entranced, watching her with eyes that I was pretty sure were sparkling. I felt like a kid again— well, maybe not. As a kid I was beating up hooligans, stealing money, and saving a certain rubber idiot from being eaten by crocodiles. But I definitely felt a childlike wonder fill me up and erase my worries. I felt free and floaty, like nothing mattered as long as I could see Azalea's next trick.

It was a wonderful show, indeed. Every last trick was executed perfectly and I didn't think she used a devil fruit ability for any of it— it seemed far too genuine, too practiced and skillful, to have been aided by a devil fruit.

But my weightless feeling and childish wonder wasn't _completely_ disorienting. I was still aware of my surroundings, and I felt it keenly when a hand reached into my shorts pockets, another reaching onto my belt. I turned, eyes narrowed, but the hands were too quick. Whoever it was vanished before I could catch them, causing me to dash out of the crowd, Raz yelling behind me. I ignored him— we had volunteered Cala to assist with one of Azalea's tricks, so Raz would likely stay behind to keep an eye of the Zoan user. I could handle a pickpocket on my own anyway.

They had taken my eyeglass case and my pouch of banana raft pop greens. I hadn't been carrying money.

I couldn't lose either of those things— but the case was more important. I couldn't lose the case. It had Lin's poster in it, _nobody was allowed to touch it without my permission._

All I could make out was a short figure in a brown cloak, and I chased it as fast as I could. But the figure was smaller and faster than me, and obviously knowledgeable of the streets and alleyways of the town. I skidded to a stop when I hit a dead end in the alley, but no figure was seen. I cursed out loudly, not caring who heard, and spread my Observation out instantly. It went out several yards farther than my previous maximum range purely because of my panic and rage.

I felt a ball of energy, below me. And, even more shocking, I felt a very small spark of _Lin's_ energy there too. The shock froze me to the spot, making my eyes wide as I felt my breath stutter and freeze. Lin… it wasn't her Soul, the spark was too tiny. But it was a small bit of her energy, perhaps the bit of her left over from when she handed me her poster.

I took in as deep of a breath as I could manage in my suddenly breathless stage, blinking away the tears that threatened to spill over on me. At that moment, I felt even stronger and more weightless than I had even while watching Azalea perform. Lin was still with me, even in this small way. I looked up, watching the clouds lazily march across the sky for a moment.

"Thank you," I whispered up, hoping Lin would hear me before I refocused. The spark of her energy had given away that the person that I felt down there definitely had to be the thief that had pickpocketed me. I hastily scanned around em, looking for any way down to the room that had to be there.

My eyes caught onto a stone in the dead end wall, which was the only stone free of grime and the clutch of the creeping vines that covered the rest of the stone. With a grin, I leaned forward and pressed weight into it—it gave in easily, sliding open a narrow passage below me. Without a thought, I hopped down into it.

Inside was… not what I expected. It was a small room, a bedroom by the way it was arranged. There was a small ratty futon in one corner, a heap of dirty clothes in another and the brown cloak I had spotted was draped over an old, dirty brown chair that was set up in front of a table of hobbled together cardboard boxes. The thief, sitting down in the center of the room and surrounded by wallets and various stolen items, stared up at me with a gaping wide mouth.

The boy couldn't have been older than twelve, with ratty blond hair and a missing tooth in his mouth that reminded me all too much of a young Sabo.

Shit. I already had a soft spot for the little criminal. Then again, I had also already been a criminal at his age, so it wasn't like I had _that_ much of a bias to begin with. But he stole my stuff, and I needed that back.

"W-what do you want, Giant Lady?!" The boy asked, standing up and trying to look tough. I just blinked. Giant lady?

"Um, I'm definitely not a giant," I replied to the child, tilting my head. "I'm only six feet and half an inch tall," the boy rolled his eyes at me.

"But you're big and have an axe! That makes you a giant!"

"No, no it really doesn't," I couldn't resist grinning, crouching down to be closer to his height. "Real giants are dozens of feet tall, taller than trees and buildings," I told him, making his eyes widen and sparkle. He blinked rapidly, shaking his head as if to remind himself that I was a stranger and not to get wrapped up in my story.

"Whatever! Why are you here?!"

I pointed to the black case with the L on it, and the small bag that sat next to it. I could feel my gaze get serious, and saw the boy gulp in response. "Oh," he said meekly. "I stole from you, huh?" I nodded, making the boy fidget. "'S not money anyway, so," he picked up the two items, handing them out to me. "Sorry. I only wanted money."

"I figured," I said with a shrug, pocketing the items with an internal sigh of relief. "My brothers and I did the same thing growing up. We stole from thugs and city people in order to stock up treasure so we could buy boats and become pirates when we grew up," I grinned at the boy's shock. "I was actually able to use my share of the money to do exactly that. One of my brothers ran off without his share, he didn't need it after he joined up with a group of people who already had loads of ships. One of my other brothers lost his when he shipwrecked, the idiot, but he's a great pirate now."

"Really?!" The boy shouted, eyes sparkling. "How many brothers do you have?!" I chuckled at his enthusiasm.

"Three," I said. "The last one hasn't left home yet, he'll set sail to become a pirate in a year and half. But he'll probably just lose his treasure too, just like our brother," we both shared a laugh at that. "But look," I caught the boy's attention again, getting stern once more. The boy met my gaze, turning slightly sheepish again. "Thank you for giving me back my stuff so quickly. But you should be careful, yeah? It's one thing to take money from people, but you shouldn't take anything else. What you just took from me," I pulled the case from my pocket again so he knew what I was talking about, then slid it back in. "That case and what is inside is my personal treasure. It would have really, really hurt me if I lost it. You should be careful to _never_ take anyone's personal treasures. Okay?" The boy nodded quickly, then paused and looked down at his feet.

"What… What happens when you lose your special treasure?" He asked softly, making me blink in confusion.

"Why? Did you lose yours?" I asked gently, raising an eyebrow when he shook his head in response.

"No, but I'm going to. Azalea, the magician. She's my hero!" The boy looked up at me again, eyes shining with unshed tears. "She's so cool and so good at magic! She even taught me a bit of sleight of hand, which is how I got so good at pickpocketing. Heh," he looked sheepish when he admitted that, making me chuckle. "But last month…" the boy looked down. "Last month, the doctors told her that she has cancer," my breath caught. I could feel my heart speed up. "It's really bad. They said she'll die. But Azalea wants to be a super famous magician! It's her dream! She'll never be able to do it if she dies!" The boy pointed it the pile of wallets on the ground. "That's why I steal! I want to raise up enough money to get the best doctor in the world to come here and cure her!"

I stared at this boy, that little thief who had a heart too big for his own good. I let out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sigh. "You're smarter than me," I whispered, looking at him with a sad smile. He looked confused, but I didn't elaborate. I opened my mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Not even the best doctor can cure me, Adrian," me and the boy, Adrian, turned to see Azalea herself standing right at the bottom of where the trap door to the hideout opened up to. She walked over to us, kneeling down beside me so she was closer to Adrian's height like I had done. "And I can still be a famous magician. You don't have to worry about me, silly," she reached out to ruffle his hair, making his groan and try to slap her hands away. "Besides," she continued, catching our attention again. She frowned at the boy. "Don't you know people will stop coming to my shows if they keep getting robbed during them? They might even think I'm in on it!"

Adrian paled, clearly not having thought about that. "That's not what I meant! Honest!"

"I know," Azalea agreed with a nod. "So don't do that anymore, okay? And practice what I taught you. You have to become a great magician too one day, to replace me. Promise?"

Tears fell down Adrian's face, and I suddenly felt very out place. I turned my head away to try to give them a little privacy.

"Promise!"

"Actually," I spoke up, catching their attention and making both people turn to me. I rubbed the back on my neck, feeling slightly awkward as I smiled at them lopsidedly. "I'm Maven."

"Usurper Maven," Azalea said, realization coming over her face. "Thank you for being to understanding and kind to Adrian."

"Not a problem," I raised a hand and shook my head. "He reminds me of one my brothers when he was that age. Anyway, I wanted to make you an offer."

"Offer?"

I nodded, sitting back on my butt into a more comfortable position. "The Hopeless Pirates— we're all terminally ill," the old admission got the usual reactions, both magicians in front of me looking shocked. "I have Usurper's. Ironic, eh?" The two traded glances.

"So.. what? Are you offering me to join?" Azalea asked slowly, and I smiled.

"Actually, yes. If you come with us, you can become world known. It might not be as a classic magician, but.."

"Deal!" Adrian yelled, making the two of us girls turn to him in shock. "That's the best way for Azalea to reach her dream! You should go!"

"But, Adrian," Azalea argues, looking worried. "What about you? won't you need that meal I give you every day? Or a safe place to crash if the police get too close?" Adrian shook his head, smiling.

"No way! I'll practice to be a real magician and stop stealing. If you move away, I can even get more practice and an audience!" Azalea and I laughed at this, and the redhead turned to look at me, seeming a little dazed.

"Well then," she sounded slightly breathless. "Should I call you Captain?"

I had a chance at redemption. Time to find Law.

—*—*—*—*—*

 

**Until next chapter~**


	21. Chapter 21

Dyan, who was waiting by the ships, blinked in surprise when he saw me returning to the Dying Dream with someone new, and Raz and Cala nowhere in sight.

"Uh, did you lose somebody? Or two somebodies, maybe?" The ex-king asked cautiously, green eyes flickering around to see if he could catch sight of the Zoan or the purple-haired doctor. "Or did you trade them out for an upgrade?"

I snorted, shaking my head. "The Dying Dream needed a new member," I said slowly, locking my hands behind my back when Dyan's gaze shot to mine with lightning speed. He knew something was up. "Don't be like that. You know we plan battles based on the people on each ship and what they can accomplish. The Dream crew needed a new heavy hitter to fill in the gap that Lin has left. And I found her," I gestured to the new recruit, the redhead smiling shyly at the boy.

"I, uh, didn't know there were kids on the crew," The woman said slowly, clearly unsure of what to think. I chuckled, and Dyan sighed.

"I ate the Child-Child fruit. I'm actually an adult," Dyan explained patiently, gesturing to his small body. "I'm just stuck in the body of a kid."

"Oh," something in Azalea's body relaxed at that, oddly enough. She probably wasn't comfortable with the idea of a real kid on a pirate crew. I coughed into my fist.

"We do have one member who might classify as a kid still," I said slowly, attracting the magician's attention. "She's thirteen, though she joined a little more than a year ago. She can take care of herself, so don't worry too much about her in a fight. But if you're uncomfortable with a kid being—"

"It's not that," Azalea was reluctant to interrupt me, probably because she still wasn't sure how formal to be with her new captain, but went through with the interruption anyway. "It just makes me uncomfortable to imagine kids like Adrian in the same situation as me."

Ah. I smiled lopsidedly in understanding. "Ah. The world's a bitch."

Azalea laughed at that, clearly not expecting my blunt reply. It was a little sad, but still a laugh all the same.

"And can you buy me new shoes?" Dyan asked, making me look down and blink at him for his random ass question. I just stared for a long moment, confused.

"Uh," me and the new magician ended up saying at the same time.

"Don't you still have your own allowance?" I settle on asking in return after a moment, eyebrows furrowed. Then I relaxed my face, realizing that Dyan probably wanted to talk to me alone about our new member. "Oh," I said after a second. "Azalea, why don't you get on the ship? It looks like Yalla and Kilik are back. They can show you the ropes," I reached into one of the pockets of my dagger belt and pulled out an extra eternal pose for Hopeless Island (I always carried around a spare in addition to my personal one, just in case). "If you show them this, they'll know what it means. Ask them to explain it to you, too. It's important."

A little flustered and confused, our newest crewmate slowly took the item from me and looked at it for a moment before nodding and dazedly walking up the landing platform to board the Dying Dream.

Dyan met my gaze when I looked down at him and we began to head to the market street.

"So… shoes?"

"I need shoes," The small man replied easily with a shrug, glancing up at me in the corner of his eye. "And you decided to bring in someone to… fill Lin's spot?"

I hummed in thought, not meeting his stare. "We really did need to bring the Dream crew back up to ten members," I replied softly. "Azalea is a magician, someone with skills as good as hers is bound to be a very helpful addition to the crew."

"Ah huh," Dyan replied skeptically at my side when I stopped talking. "Keep going, I know that isn't it."

"I hate how well you guys know me," I complained with a grimace. "Azalea has cancer. Apparently, as she told me not long ago, it's everywhere."

Silence reigned over the two of us as I let that news sink into the newly stunned ex-king. We had gotten used to running into terminally ill people and sob stories became routine for us to listen to merely because of the nature of our crew. But people with cancer that we found generally were too far gone or in too much pain to travel with us. Lin had been the first and only for a long time. Now we met another person with enough endurance to come along, and only a little more than two months after Lin's death.

"Maven," Dyan finally breathed, voice barely above a whisper. "It wasn't your fault. You need to stop blaming yourself so much."

"I know," I said simply, keeping my voice light and purposely cheerful. "When I redeem myself, I can stop with the self pity. Lin would forgive me, even if she blamed me, if I corrected my mistake."

"... We're at the shoes," Dyan changed the topic, bringing my attention to the stalls lined with clothing, and more importantly the stalls of children's shoes that we had been about to pass since we hadn't been paying attention.

It didn't take Dyan long to pick the pair he wanted, and manipulate me into paying for him. He didn't even use his powers (I think) he just guilt tripped me into it. Maybe the world was lucky he wasn't a king anymore.

"HOW DARE YOU DITCH ME LIKE THAT?!" A familiar voice screeched, making me and my short companion turn to see Cala sprinting towards us, Raz strolling, relaxed, behind him.

"Oh, and we should run," Raz added, pitching his voice just loud enough for me and Dyan to hear. "Hina's behind us."

I twitched instinctively, leaning to the side and looking around my crewmates. Sure enough, I saw a streak of loose pink hair through the crowd behind them, and other splotches of white between the gaps in the group of caught-off-guard civilians that suggested marine uniforms somewhere back there.

"What the hell?!" I yelled, annoyed and shocked. "Did she go to school for stalking or something?! How does this happen all the time?!" I asked nobody in particular, turning and swinging Dyan over my shoulder before running in the direction of our ships.

When we got to the ship, Kilik was up and waving to us with both arms, easily catching our attention. "You're the last ones unaccounted for!" He yelled over to us. "So hurry up slowpokes! Before Yalla decides to gift wrap one of you for Hina so we can escape!"

"Stop scaring the newer members!" I retorted when I got close enough, easily leaping onto the ship and putting Dyan down. "They'll think she'll actually do that."

"She won't?!" The newest members of the Hope crew shouted, shocked. I narrowed my eyes, looking over at the youngest member of our crew, who was rocking on her feet trying to look innocent.

"You were playing along with Kilik's prank?"

"Kilik said pirate kids are supposed to act tough and mean or else they'll get taken advantage of…" she defended herself, making me scoff as Katie and Cala began steering the Dying Dream out of the harbor, the members of the Dying Hope following suit behind us.

"Yeah, good try," I told her, not believing it for a second. "You haven't been that naive for two months."

"Tch," She tsked, knowing she was caught and looking away from me moodily. I chuckled, shaking my head and turning to look around our surroundings in case Hina popped out.

"USURPER MAVEN!" The familiar voice ran out not long after we got our ships onto the open water. I groaned. "HINA WILL CATCH YOU!"

"How did you make _her_ your— _our_ — enemy?" Azalea asked, her eyes wide in shock but her voice carefully schooled to sound casual. I grinned at the redhead as we pulled farther into the open ocean, Hina's infamous fleet behind her and loading harpoons.

"I didn't do it on purpose," I explained back just as casually, leaning against the side of the Dying Dream and not even pulling out Stormfall. "We ran into her back in East Blue, when we were only a six-person, one-ship crew. She's been stalking us ever since," I told our new recruit cheerfully, watching as Yalla leapt up with her ribbon-arms blazing and tossed each harpoon easily away from us. Gino walked up next to her, taking the water that splashed onto the deck from each deflected weapon and sending high-speed water droplets from it to send any harpoons the thirteen-year-old missed off course. Azalea watched the effortless teamwork with wide eyes, slowly turning her gaze to me after we had escaped.

"Welcome to the family," I said softly to her before she could speak, putting a hand on her shoulder and giving her a wide smile. The magician stared at me for a long moment, and didn't speak until right as I pulled my hand away and was about to retreat into the kitchen.

"This is real magic," I heard her whisper, turning my head to look at the source of that soft, awed voice. "I ate the Feel-feel fruit. I'm an Empath," she confided, making my eyebrows rise. "My powers don't play a direct role in my tricks, but they keep the crowd happy. All I've ever wanted is to keep people happy and fill their day with wonder," the waves her hand to indicate my crew. Everybody, on both ships, was smiling and trading stories or doing chores while humming. "But you spread _comfort._ Nobody here is scared. Nobody is sad— those emotions are pushed so far back in their minds that I can barely feel them. Their contentedness overpowers every other emotion they are experiencing," she turned her wide eyes back to me. "That's real magic. Making dying people feel healthy."

I rubbed the back of my head, not sure how to respond to something like that. Azalea chuckled, most likely feeling my very confusing meld of emotions. "I'm just a selfish idiot," I argued softly, stuffing my hands in my pockets. "I wanted to do something that made me look good, that made me feel like a hero. That's all."

I found it harder to take compliments with a friend in the grave because of me. I refused to be considered a hero anymore. I sure as hell didn't feel like one. I walked away before she could respond, it was my turn to cook dinner.

—*—*—*—*—*

Azalea turned out as a sort of counselor/quartermaster. She was fine giving orders (after she settled in) and keeping track of everyone and taking care of tedious lists and chores. She also helped out whenever someone was having emotional issues, quick to sit them down and chat and use her devil fruit abilities if necessary to help them recover and sort out their problems. She also performed magic tricks for us quite often, taking center stage and switching off with Synalla as the two distracted us with their respective talents. Right then, we were headed to Water Seven to get our third ship a month after she joined us, we were running out of space on just the Hope and Dream when Azalea decided to put on a show to take up some of our travel time.

"Ladies and Gentlebrats!" She said dramatically with a snarky smile on her face, making everyone on both ships roar with laughter. Azalea occasionally teased the crew like that if she thought it would make them laugh. She could be quite the comedian. Even worse (for everyone but me, heh) was that she would sometimes team up with Raz to pull pranks on more than one person at once.

"Once again!" She threw her arms open wide, "Enjoy the wonders I will rain down upon you!"

"Run," Kilik said, stiffening up next to me where I was sitting on a crate. My smile twitched, Kilik must have guessed that whatever Azalea was going to 'rain' down on the crew wouldn't be completely benevolent. Yalla heard him and nodded; now that she was a teenager, she was no longer restricted to Raz's "cute" pranks and got the same treatment as the rest of the crew aside from me.

Not wanting to miss Azalea's show and feeling fairly safe, I let the adoptive siblings run past me and into the kitchen, where they hoped the shelter would save them. But with Azalea being the one they were trying to escape from, there was no guarantee that the closed space would be devoid of her sneaky influence.

"Ah!" Sure enough, not even two minutes passed before Kilik yelled in surprise and horror. "Hurry! Save the leather before the glitter and paint ruins it!"

"You get the metal!" Yalla yelled back, similarly panicked. "Oh no, gas is seeping from the fridge! Quick, hide everything before whatever it is takes effect!"

I tilted my head at what I had just overheard, furrowing my eyebrows. Metal was common enough for Kilik to be carrying around, he _was_ a weapon smith. But he didn't work with leather all that often. But then I remembered that sword and dagger handles were almost always wrapped in leather, and relaxed at my deduction. He was probably just getting ready to wrap the handles for those hand-shaped daggers Dyan had told me Kilik was going to work on. Apparently the weaponsmith had wanted to use my hands as the shape for them, and I had let Dyan trace my hands since I was already used to Kilik's odd ideas for weaponry.

Mystery solved, I leaned back against the wall behind me and focused again as our crew's magician magically whisked away all of the hair dye she had sprayed over most of the crew, leaving behind only their wacky colored hair. Apparently Raz had engineered this batch to only stay on the hair in the pattern of kissy lips. Seeing Gino with bright lemon-yellow lip shapes on his short hair was enough to send me into helpless laughter even as I felt the rest of the crew glare at me for my immunity to their pain.

"We'll be arriving at Water Seven tomorrow by noon!" Cala said slowly, clearly trying to remain calm. Apparently he was starting to get used to his bad luck with being the butt of the joke with me, Raz, and now Azalea. But the way his hands were clenched into trembling fists gave away that he wasn't completely adjusted. The bright glow-in-the-dark neon pink lips on his hair really didn't help bring any intimidation to his next words. "We better look normal by the time we get there or we'll be laughing stocks!"

"Oh?" Azalea hummed, looking absolutely innocent. "Is this inconvenient for you? Alright!" She snapped her fingers, and one-by-one the patterns on everyone's head disappeared as if by real magic.

Except Cala's. He waited, mirror handy, for a long moment in anticipation. But nothing happened. He looked back up to a grinning Azalea and the smug Raz standing behind her. "Oh, so sorry!" The magician said with false regret. "It seems the glow in the dark formula takes three days to wear off. Perhaps you should stay on the ship tomorrow?"

"WHY ME DAMN IT?!"

—*—*—*—*—*

I stood on the middle Cerberus head of the Dying Dream, which was currently sailing in the very back of a triangle formation formed by the three ships making up the Hopeless Pirates. I liked the Junk style, and even though I planned on having a lot of ships and generally a larger crew like the Yonko, I also wanted it to be a bit different. Instead of large ships with maybe thirty people per ship minimum (closer to a hundred of you were looking at Whitebeard), I wanted a lot of ships with small, elite and well balanced mini-crews on each. Ten to fifteen to a ship max, to create what was likely to be one of the smallest but strongest pirate fleets in the future. For now, just our three ships was doing the trick.

The Dying Hope and Dying Rabid were easy to see where they sailed not far ahead of the Dying Dream, and I took in the fresh appearance of the month-old ship with the silver sails on either side of the purple center sail, and the bright green strip circling the outside walls of the beautiful vessel. It was barely six in the morning, I had just finished an hour of my usual push-up and sit-up routine, pushed farther by the addition of a thousand-pound weight on my back for the pushups and five hundred on each leg for my sit-ups— ones where I held my legs in the air for the entirety of the exercise. My disease was speeding up, so my routine had to keep ahead of it.

The brisk morning air seared by lungs as I took a deep breath, relishing the cool, half-darkness that came right before sunrise. The short moment of time where everything seemed to shimmer blue right before the sun broke the horizon.

Only me, Cala who was checking our heading, Katie who was at the helm, and Yalla who was on watch on top of our middle sail were awake on our ship for the moment. The gentle lap of the waves against the side of our ship and the splash of ocean creatures were all that could be heard, nobody feeling quite up to breaking the tranquil silence for a conversation just yet. Being left alone to our thoughts and crew tasks was peaceful for the moment.

I filled my mind with simple thoughts. Of the weights I would pick up in a few minutes, of the fact that we needed five more members for the Rabid crew before each ship had ten people, of the fact that I had five months before my bi-yearly meet up with Whitebeard and Ace. Four months before my nineteenth birthday and two year anniversary of setting sail.

My left hand went to my pocket, easily meeting the lump that was the glasses case inside it. Gently, reverently, I slipped it out and ran my fingertips over the fancy green L on the cover.

"Another day," I whispered to the air as I stared at the bright letter. I wasn't quite ready to look at the poster inside yet, though I made myself do it once a week at least. Sometimes more if I got hit with an especially harsh blast of melancholy from missing her.

"Maven," Katie's voice made its way to me from her spot at the helm, where she lazily leaned over the table-like wheel. "Sunrise. Why don't you kick off the day with a song?"

My crewmates had found my long-repressed habit of singing while I exercised. I usually did it when they were all asleep and we were anchored in spot, but a certain sneaky weaponsmith had gotten up for a midnight snack, overheard me, and decided to bring the whole crew up to spy on me until I finished the whole workout and five songs. Since then, despite admitting I was just a decent singer and not anything world shattering, they still wouldn't stop begging to hear me sing.

In hindsight, it's probably because I sang songs from my old world that I had relentlessly memorized as my last real reminder of it besides my faded memories of the One Piece anime. None of them had ever heard those songs before, of course, and liked hearing me sing them.

I grinned at my blond first mate, straightening up and stretching my arms. "I guess I can stall my weight training long enough for one song," I reluctantly agreed. Katie was lucky I was in a singing mood.

"A fire needs a space to burn, a breath to build a glow," I started, sitting on a crate and tapping out the beat on my knees to the best of my memory.I've heard it said a thousand times, but now I know," of course, I wrote these songs down frantically once I was two and able to hold a pen so that I didn't forget them. And after dying, being reborn, and being diagnosed with a terminal illness in my new life? Yeah, all the songs I remembered were pretty sad.

"That you don't know what you've got, oh you don't know what you've got, No you don't know what you've got," I took a deep breath, closing my eyes and tilting my head back. I could feel the gentle warmth of the sun pass over my face. "Until it's gone… Until it's gone… Until it's gone!"

Footsteps sounded as my voice carried across the ship, gently stirring sleeping bodies and telling of the new day finally having arrived. Synalla was the first person to walk out from the cabin area, rubbing her eyes as she listened to me.

"I thought I kept you safe, I thought I made you strong," I continued, closing my half-opened eyes again and releasing me to the song from my past life. "But something made me realize, that I was wrong…"

Oh Linkin Park, I thought I continued belting out the melancholy lyrics. How the hell had they written a song so perfect for my current mood? I slipped the glasses case back into my pocket as I sang. Soon enough, my feet and hands stopped patting the beat and my voice trailed off after the last few lyrics.

Peeling open my eyes, I ignored the dull burn in them from my pupils trying to rapidly adjust to the sudden increase in brightness. The sun was now fully over the horizon, having just finished rising. I took another deep breath of the crisp morning air, letting it out softly as I realized the whole Dream crew was now up in various degrees of awake and stumbling across the deck to start their morning activities. I saw Synalla slink into the kitchen, and a warm scent rose up a few minutes later.

I felt my lips curl into a small smile as I made my way to my weight, choosing the three-ton one I had picked up in Water Seven and raising it above my head.

I let my eyes roam around as I swung my weight, softly huffing out the number of each rep to keep track of myself. Kilik was stumbling his way up the middle sail with a bag over his shoulder as he tried to make his way to Yalla. I smirked as he slipped only to be rescued by Yalla's pink ribbon arms around his waist, and shook my head even as I continued training at the face he made when Yalla reeled him up like a dead fish and set him down next to her.

"Another day," I whispered out, wishing it could continue to be just like this even though I knew that was impossible. So I said the thing I had been pleading for ever since Lin's death woke me up and things had settled down. "Just one more day like this. Please."

—*—*—*—*—*

There were three more months of relatively peaceful days like that. Of course, _relatively peaceful_ was something odd in the Grand Line. Some days, it meant absolute boredom. Other days, it meant taking down two rival private crews and sinking three different marine ships all before dinner. Still other days, it meant running into Hina _four times in one day_. Why? Just. Why?

I stared at the pink haired marine captain, my face blank since I honestly had no fucking idea how the hell that woman kept popping up. We had sunk her fleet before breakfast, landed on an island and had to beat her and her crew up right after lunch, sank half of her brand-new ships in her fleet before dinner, and now it was approaching midnight and she had miraculously shown up out of nowhere with her three remaining ships.

Just. How?

Kilik, who was standing next to me on the left Cerberus head on the Dream, was similarly deadpanning towards the marine.

"Does she have someone capable of tracking us?" He asked me incredulously, not even bothering to take his clock blades from his hips. I just shook my head, honestly baffled.

"I. I just," I couldn't even say a full sentence, I was so confused. "I am just so _done._ She hasn't even come _close_ to capturing us in over a year, why does she keep trying?"

"She _did_ catch Conill that one time like, what, five months ago?" I shook my head at Kilik's question.

"No, no," I corrected. "It was two weeks after we got Azalea, remember? Before we got the Rabid," I nodded to the ship. Conill being the bunny mink that I had picked up not long before Lin's death. He had really proven himself useful and eager, and was currently the leader of the Dying Rabid crew. Kilik nodded at the memory, snapping his fingers.

"That's right! Poor dude was just getting over an ear infection and Hina was able to sneak up on him," he mused out loud. The Dying Rabid was directly on our right though, the black bunny mink standing on the front of it in a similar position to me and Kilik and thus within earshot.

"I got out on my own!" He squeaked indignantly. The leader of the Dying Hope, which was on our left, snorted. She was somebody I had been surprised to recruit just a month or two before Conill— probably because she was _familiar._ Who knew her name and most famous aspect was because of a dangerously fast metabolism that was actually terminal— it kept speeding up as time went by and would eventually kill her.

"Usurper Maven! Lilly the Glutton! Shadow Conill!" Hina's voice rang across the water separating our three ships from hers, bringing us out of our comfortable chatter. I sighed, tilting my head to look at Lily, who was only a couple inches tall at the moment from her place on the Hope.

"How can she even _see_ —" I cut myself off, realizing what was going on. "Shit," I turned my attention back to Hina, who hadn't fought much in the past three battles that day. Surprisingly, she and I hadn't even clashed personally because she had always managed to stick back and direct her troops, which was definitely not normal for her now that I was paying attention.

I might have just made one of my, and possibly Luffy's one day, enemies stronger. Because there was no way she knew Haki before the timeskip in the anime, and Observation could be the only way she could see the tiny Lilly from so far away.

"Observation?" Kilik asked from next to me, seemingly unbothered that he had been ignored by Hina. He threw quips at her every time he got near the pinkette, so she had taken to ignoring him as often as possible. I nodded, turning my head to the Dying Hope's crew leader.

"Lilly, go ahead and size up. Might as well make this quick, it's late and I'm tired." I ordered easily, turning my head to look over my shoulder instead of watching the green haired girl grow up to her Giant's height. If Hina has a good enough Observation to track us even though we had sailed out of view, then I would need to step up my game. She had to have been training for at least the past several months to get so good at it— and had been hiding it from me too, the asshat. She wasn't even the right rank for it, she was still a captain. I smelled shenanigans.

"Your grandfather decided I should be a bit more well equipped if Hina was going to chase after you," Hina told me, sounding suspiciously smug. "He also said to tell you that a little challenge will do you good."

"That shitty geezer!" I growled, realizing she had probably been trained by him in Haki for almost a year, maybe even slightly more if she told him about her run in with us back in East Blue right after it happened.

"Your Family is cutthroat, Big Sis," Conill mused, one of his ears twitching as he used the nickname they had decided would replace "Momma" (though Raz stuck with the original nickname because he was an ass). I wished the Big Sis nickname would catch on outside the crew though, because for some reason there seemed to be someone making a mention of "Momma Maven" every time I happened to show up in the newspaper. For some reason, I had the feeling a certain redhead was behind it— and not Azalea.

"You don't know the half of it," I said back, rubbing the back of my neck. "Gramps is just a pain in my ass, though. Okay, Lilly you take the ship on the far left. Conill, take a partner and take the one on the right. Me 'n Kilik got Hina and hers," I instructed. Lilly's size alone could take care of most small marine ships in Paradise, and Conill was fast and good at teamwork. He got the nickname _shadow_ because that was usually all people saw of him, after all. And because he was covered completely in black fur, but, ya know. At least they didn't mistake him for a pet. Most minks unfortunately were. Even Trafalgar Law's first mate was mistaken for a pet, poor guy had a miserably low bounty because of it.

"Go!" I shouted, and all at once the four of us hopped to our respective targets. In mid leap, I hissed out of the corner of my lips to Kilik: "try to sink this thing ASAP, Hina has a trick up her sleeve. I can just _feel it."_

"Sure thing, Sissy," he said with a smirk, making my eyebrow twitch since he was simultaneously managing to call me _sister_ and _weakling_ with just one word. Jerk.

"You're cleaning the bilge for the next three days."

"Damn it."

—*—*—*—*—*

Three hours later, bruised and exhausted, I was sprawled out on the deck and let it a heavy sigh of joy when Katie climbed down from the top of the center sail with her spyglass to report that Hina was not going to catch up anytime soon.

She and I had fought for a whole _hour._ Her Observation was almost perfect, and it was annoying as hell to combat with my own decidedly inferior Observation— the only good thing was that she didn't have Armament. But Lilly and Conill had easily taken down their own ships, and my warrior ethic refused to let anyone help me in my fight against the idiot pink haired marine. Result? I won. But I was also beat and sore and sick and tired of hearing somebody talk in third person. If anyone said that woman's name out loud again, I'd lose it.

"We're about an hour from the next island on this hopping route," Cala said as he strolled over and sat his small ass down next to me, seemingly unbothered by my exhaustion. "But unless we want another late night visit from H—" my glare got the Zoan to clear his throat and continue. "From _the marines_ , then we should go to a different island. We have plenty of eternal posts after all— should reach Jaya by morning."

"Then we go to Jaya," I said easily, knowing Hina probably would have no power over that place anyway since it was notoriously overrun by pirates all the time. "Raz has been talking about seeing if their old rainforest has the herb he's looking for for a concoction to nullify the venom Kilik's body makes.

It wasn't long after that brief conversation that I dragged myself back to the cabin, gave Stormfall a quick sipe and polish before putting her blade cover on and setting her down, and let myself fall asleep among the other women that were settling back to sleep also, if they weren't like Yalla and Azalea and already back to snoozing.

I woke up at eight the next day, three hours later than usual to make up for my late night, and decided to get out and begin my morning exercises.

"You should do a compressed version for our training today," Dyan said as he walked past me. "The rest of the crew wants to go out at noon for a day of drinking."

" _Noon?"_ I asked, eyebrows raised as I picked up one of my smaller, five hundred pound weights and started tying them to my calves. "Why so soon?"

The small man ran his hand through his dark green bangs, brushing them back. "You do realize new year's is your birthday, right? And that's only a month away. They want to get some holiday celebrating in early before the islands get crowded and annoying for Christmas and everything."

I sighed, laying down and lifting my legs up, bent at the knee with my feet parallel to the ground, to begin my sit-ups.

"I suppose that's okay. I'll just train until then, four hours isn't bad. I'll just add an extra hour tomorrow."

Dyan shook his head, watching as I crunches my body upwards, eyes lingering on the weights attached to my legs.

"Honestly," He said softly. "Only you. Only you can keep this kind of routine up for so long."

I was silent for a long moment, grunting every now and then and counting my crunches in my head. When I finally responded, my voice was as cool and casual as I could get it. "This is for survival, Dyan. Pure survival," I glanced up at him, double checking my count in my head so I didn't get lost. "I can't be the only one capable of doing this to live. I'm just the only one with that kind of willpower that's gotten Usurper's."

The small ex-king shook his head again, walking away without a word.

I smiled to myself and continued my training.

—*—*—*—*—*

Nine hours later found the whole crew at one of the larger bars on Jaya. The twenty-five crew members filled about half the bar, and somewhere through our (mostly alcohol free, though no less crazy) drinking and eating marathon and partying another pirate crew had come in to fill up the other half. We had been too far in our early holiday celebration to pay attention to who they were, though none of us really cared since we could still defend ourselves extremely well if we were ambushed, even those of us who were plastered. I wasn't that far gone, too careful to avoid a hangover that might inhibit my training to get truly drunk, but I was feeling a nice buzz as I sipped a large mug of sake.

And then Kilik started coughing. At first, none of us paid attention— until the shakes started. Me and Raz instantly had our eyes locked on the weaponsmith, whose hands shook as he held his booze.

"Kilik," Raz said slowly, "You haven't drank any alcohol today right? You know that can speed up the venom," the doctor asked as he put down his water and I put down my wine. Kilik shook his head, his cinnamon hair flopping into his eyes. Trembling fingers brushed it away hastily.

"N-nope. J-j-just some water, a little juice earlier but I made sure none of it w-w-was al-alcoholic."

"I'll get the stuff ready on the ship, you need an extraction," Raz got up without hesitation, speed walking towards the ship— his version of running. My buzz thoroughly gone, I threw my chair back as I stood up, seeing Kilik trying to stand follow him.

"No, sit down!" I ordered sternly, about to grab him and force him back on his seat when he lost balance and fell. "Shit," I cursed lowly, carefully pulling him out of the awkward position he had fallen in, his legs having still been on the wrong side of the chair. I straightened him out, checking his pulse to see that it was a little too fast. I cursed again— a sped up heartbeat meant the venom would spread through his system faster. I looked up to my crew, who had also sobered at the haunting sound of Kilik's body dropping onto the floor. "Conill, you're the fastest. We need to get him to the infirmary ASAP—"

"Let me help," a smooth, deep voice said from my left. I turned just in time to see a tall man kneel next to me— but I froze as I got a look at his face and the iconic white spotted hat that sat on his head. My eyes darted down to the tattooed hands that started inspecting Kilik before I could even respond, but when I looked up again I saw the man's eyes looking at me to gauge my reaction.

The bar was dead silent. My crew recognized the man just like I did, and it seemed like they were all holding their breath. I could feel a vein in my jaw leap as I grit my teeth with stress. I looked up at Conill.

"Go tell Raz where we'll be," I ordered, the bunny immediately hopping out the door and I returned my gaze to the doctor in front of me. "... I'm trusting you here," I whispered softly, warning laced behind the worry in my tightly controlled voice. "Don't make us both find out what I'm capable of when it comes to revenge."

A long second passed where we just stared each other down, but the man nodded and slipped his hands under Kilik's passed out body.

"Follow me," he said tersely. "I can help him better on my ship."

I took a deep breath, nodding. But I wasn't stupid enough to go alone on a stranger's pirate ship, and glanced over my shoulder. "Dyan, Yalla, come on," I said, running my gaze over the rest of the crew. "Katie, you're in charge until I get back. _Behave,"_ with that, I hurried after the man we had unknowingly been sharing a bar with for the last few hours— Trafalgar Law— with Yalla and Dyan close behind.

"You're bringing kids?" He asked when he saw them, his brows furrowed. I wanted to smirk, but the situation was not allowing my lips to curve up.

"Dyan is stuck in a child's body because of his devil fruit, he's actually older than either you _or_ me," I responded, keeping the explanation vague just in case. "And Yalla is Kilik's adopted sister, there's no way in hell she _wouldn't_ come. They won't get in your way, though," we reached his submarine, and he began to lead us in and through the surprisingly twisty hallways in the massive vessel.

Law just rose his eyebrows at me, but made no comment. It wasn't long before we reached the operation room, and I banished Dyan and Yalla to the hallway as I watched Law lay Kilik out on the sterile metal table.

"Previous medical conditions?" The man asked easily, going through a brisk overview of my crewmate. I let out a dark chuckle, crossing my arms. Stormfall was still on my back, but I leaned against the wall anyway despite the discomfort.

"Oh yeah. Chemically induced terminal illness, causes his body to produce venom directly into his bloodstream. Our doctor has been closely monitoring it and doing extractions of the venom to keep the harm to his body a minimum, but his body increases venom production over time."

Law's hands momentarily froze and he looked up at me, his face locked and unreadable. "What? Why would you have someone terminally ill on your crew?" He asked slowly, carefully.

"He's a _hopeless case_ ," I hinted heavily. "Just like the rest of us."

Sure enough, the quick witted pirate caught on almost immediately, eyes widening. His jaw clenched as he refocused on the problem at hand, holding up a scalpel.

"As payment for my help, I want to talk to you about that later," his tone offered to room for argument. "For now, you might want to leave. This will get disturbing."

Having a good idea of just _how disturbing,_ I reluctantly nodded and left. But I didn't stray from the other side of the closed door, leaning against the wall across from Dyan and Yalla as the pirate doctor worked on our friend. Raz came down the hall soon after carried by Conill, and joined Law so the two doctors could work together.

That was the longest two hours of my life.

—*—*—*—*—*

Trafalgar Law and Raz came out of the room, both wiping their hands and looking calm and collected— even though worry was in Raz's eyes if you knew how to read them like I did. Law was still too new for me to be able to read, but he exuded control and calm.

"He's stable for now, I removed all the venom from his bloodstream, besides whatever his body had just created as I was finishing up."

"And I found the right plant to create an injection to lower the toxicity of the venom to a tenth of where it was previously. That's the good news," Raz filled in, making me take a deep breath and collect myself for the inevitable bad news. Yalla tensed beside me, and Dyan has a stormy look on his face.

"The bad news," Law spoke up. "Your doctor told me that he had been careful not to order anything alcoholic, but there was definitely alcohol in his system expediting the venom's effects. His body is permanently damaged by the venom's effects, and several of his body's processes are almost shut down. He's going to be bedridden for at least a month, if he ever recovers which is unlikely."

Yalla clenched her hands into fists. The alcohol was an issue— none of us would spike Kilik's drink and only a very small handful drank at all in the first place. So that left the waitstaff, who might have been used to pirate customers and decided we were stuck up for deciding to drink normal stuff, and who might have decided to spike some drinks behind our backs. Yalla had obviously come to the same conclusion, the thirteen year old's face dark.

"I'll be right back," her words were laced with anger and venom that I had never heard from her before, and she stalked off. I glanced at Dyan.

"Go make sure she doesn't go too far," I ordered the ex-king calmly. He nodded, taking off after the younger girl. I waited until they were out of earshot before turning back to Law. He was staring at me, as if trying to read my thoughts.

"No offense, I'm grateful you helped us out, but why?" I decided to get my questions out first before he started asking his.

"A man dropped unconscious in the middle of the bar. My appetite was ruined," he deflected. I knew he was definitely not one of the most warm and cuddly people from the anime, and always seemed detached and cool. But even before I died I had known he was kinder than he let on, he helped people without needing to be asked. He wasn't the most welcoming person in the world, but he saved Luffy's life in the comics without prompting so I was willing to give him a chance.

"So, just being a good doctor?" I shot back, seeing the corner of his mouth lift up in a grin at the subtle disbelief and knowing tone in my voice. I met his gaze evenly for a moment before sighing and shaking my head, letting it go. "Alright. You said you wanted me to answer some questions for you, right? Got anywhere to sit?"

Five minutes later, we were in the large (and empty) cafeteria sitting across from one another, Raz at my side. I shrugged and made a gesture for Law to go ahead and start asking.

"All of you are terminally ill?" The man didn't pull his punches, going straight for the big questions.

"I believe I hinted at that, so yes. We are."

"What do you have?"

"Usurper's," I replied easily. Law did a quick double take, and then let out a short snort.

"That explains a few things," he admitted, his eyes flicking to Stormfall on my back even though I knew he was probably thinking about my pirate name above all. "How long have you had it?"

"I was diagnosed when I was one."

That got a blink out of Law, and slowly his eyes widened a small fraction and his back straightened.

"Devil fr—"

"Nope. Lots of training. At least five hours a day, every muscle possible. I increase the difficulty every two weeks."

" _Every_ member is terminally ill?"

"No exception," I confirmed. I smiled then, our gazes once again locked. "Why do you think we're already making a name for ourselves as impossible to intimidate? You have the same look in your eyes."

Raz straightened next to me, his eyes observing the pirate across from us anew. "The hat is North Blue fashion," my doctor said slowly, realization creeping into his purple orbs. "I see."

Law regarded us both silently, seemingly caught off guard that we had pieced it together so quickly. "How?" He asked next, just as steady as before. I chuckled, knowing that was actually several questions phrased at once.

"How do we know that you cured yourself of something most likely terminal and most likely related to a certain white city? A mixture of deduction, familiarity with terminal illnesses, knowledge of what your devil fruit is capable of, and the intuition that can only come from someone in a similar situation. How can we get by as a dying crew? A hell of a lot of determination, and a whole island reserved for our caskets. It helps that Raz is one hell of a doctor and constantly finds new herbal remedies to help us out," I shrugged at the end of my answer, nonchalant even as I felt Law's heavy gaze burning into me.

"... _Why?"_

"We all have things we want to do before we die," I replied lowly, crossing my arms and leaning back on the bench. "I didn't think I was going to live to even be five years old, let alone old enough to set sail and become a pirate captain. But I know others won't be lucky enough to stave off their illness for eighteen years, so I give them a chance to forget that they're sick as much as possible. I give them a chance to get as close to their dreams as they can," I felt my hand palming the glasses case in my left pocket. "We're dying. But we aren't gonna be left on the side of the street or in a bed to rot. We rather die fighting."

"I guess we have that in common," I looked up to see Law's small smirk directed at me, a complex web of emotion on his face keeping me from reading him very well. I lifted my head in acknowledgement of that statement.

"I suppose we do. Are those all your questions?"

"For now."

"Good, my turn," if Law was surprised, he didn't show it. I leaned forward, putting my arms down on the table in between us and pinning him with my gaze. I wasn't trying to intimidate him— it wouldn't work. We knew that firsthand— he might have been healed, but he had once been terminally ill like us. He stared death in the face just like we did, I wouldn't be able to intimidate him. Good thing I didn't need to.

"There are a few people with similar illnesses to me that you probably won't be able to help much. But if you would look at those that you _can_ help," I paused, my hands clenched so tightly into fists that my knuckles were turning white. Oh good, I was subconsciously exercising my grip. "I'd owe you. I'll do anything to keep my crew alive as long as I can. The fact that we're dying doesn't mean we need to rush into the grave."

"Okay."

I froze, blinking blandly at the man for a moment. Did I— did I hear him right?

"Did you just..?"

Law nodded. "I'll help. But you owe me a favor for every person I completely cure, and a favor for every two people that I mostly cure."

Figures. He was secretly kind, not secretly stupid. But that many favors might come back to bite me in the ass— I needed something more concrete for a few things. I drummed my fingers on the table for a moment in thought.

Well. Law was supposed to be an ally, at least up to as far as I had gotten in the anime and manga. We'd probably have to fight him for the throne eventually, but by then a little head start on Law's side wouldn't cause much of a difference.

"I'm glad I have a habit of writing things down," I said out loud, reaching into my right pocket as the other captain stared at me. "I'll give you a favor for every person you can completely cure. That's likely to only be one person in the first place. But, for every person you can even halfway cure or more, I will give you ten pages from this book," I held up the small journal in my hand. "This book has all my notes and personal experiences on Haki, which is a very important skill to know if you ever plan on heading into the New World. One type of Haki can counteract or even nullify most devil fruit abilities if used correctly," I held out my arm to him, gauging his calculating but slightly distrusting gaze. "I can prove it. Watch."

I was wearing my usual purple crop to, so my arm was completely bare. That made it easy for him to watch as my arm turned jet black from fingertips to elbow. I glanced up at him. "To prove this isn't a devil fruit ability, Raz can also demonstrate," I flicked my eyes to my crew's doctor, who nodded and held out his own arm, which also turned black with Armament. Law's eyes flicked from one arm to the other, and then up to mine. We stared at each other for a long moment, long enough for Raz to drop his Haki and let his arm relax.

"Do you mind?" Law asked as he held up a scalpel, though he didn't wait for an answer before he slashed the object in the air towards my Armament-sheathed arm. I clenched my muscles to avoid flinching, watching as the wave of his devil fruit abilities swept through us. Nothing happened to my protected limb. Law's eyebrows scrunched, and he tried once again to use his abilities to cut my arm. After a third and final attempt, he sighed and leaned back and the scalpel disappeared somewhere. I let my Armament fade and put my arm back onto the table.

"Okay, Maven-ya," I felt myself twitch at the verbal tick he had when he said my name. It was cute. That was bad, bad Maven. No thinking of dangerous rival captains as cute in any capacity. But the verbal tick was adorable, not annoying like Hina's habit of talking in third person. "Deal."

—*—*—*—*—*

**A/N: Okay. A slightly abrupt ending? But if I continued the scene then this chapter probably would have approached or exceeded ten thousand words, and I still have comments to reply to! Also, this is my first time writing Law. I hope I did alright. I think people forget that he actually helps a lot of people without even being asked or anything, he just goes over and does his doctor thing and never mentions it again. Sneaky kind hearted bastard that doesn't want people to know he is kind hearted. He's still a calculating and scheming mastermind don't get me wrong, but the dude probably wouldn't stand by and let a random person die unless he didn't like them. And he totally walked into that bar and noticed Maven right away and went into "rival assessment" mode. Let's just say, he definitely noticed that hardly any of them were drinking and was definitely intrigued.**

 


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I put up chapters 21-23 all on Jan 1, so make sure you didn’t accidentally skip any chapters

**I know, it's been a while. Take this kinda-longer-than-usual chapter as an apology. Except, well… you probably won't forgive me.**

**I'm sorry.**

**Seriously,**

**I AM S..O..R..R..Y**

— ***—*—*—*—***

The fact that Usurper's was a disease that existed because of the body malfunctioning and not because of something that could be removed from the body led to me sitting on the sidelines as Law met with my crew one at a time. I had Katie sending everyone in as needed so that I could stay by the operation room. Despite knowing his character and background from the anime, those memories were very dull from almost twenty years of them gathering dust in my head and I found it much more comfortable to stay near the rival pirate captain at all times while he operated on my crewmates.

Even if that meant putting myself inside the operation room.

My stomach rolled as I forced myself to watch as Trafalgar Law used his devil fruit abilities to remove every last speck of cancer from Azalea's body. It was the most horrific, bloody, gruesome, gory, beautiful thing I ever saw. More graphic than anything I had ever been exposed to before, but beautiful because I could _see_ her life being lengthened with every tumor that was removed from her unconscious body.

I could see my mistakes being fixed. As much as they could be, anyhow.

It wasn't until after the long operation, when Law pulled me to the side, that reality struck me again.

"Every last amount of the cancer that I could find is gone. Even on the microscopic level," he informed me, level headed and not a single emotion being betrayed on his face or in his voice. "But Cancer isn't that simple. She'll always be at risk for developing more tumors and becoming terminally ill again. There's a chance that she'll be healthy for the rest of her life, but it's not a very high chance. Malignant tumors are likely to pop up again, it's a malfunction in her on the cellular level."

—*—*—*—*—*

Law watched Maven's face carefully as he delivered the news. Yes, he had completely cured the redhead— for now. The fact that she might not _stay_ cured was one that always hit people hard, and Law needed an accurate read on the female captain. She had been too slippery for him to get a reliable read on before.

The woman's face instantly closed off at the news, becoming emotionless as a mask to hide what she was truly feeling. Law knew that tactic very well, having mastered it himself. Something the man already noticed about her was the fact that she had been extremely on guard around him the whole day, despite the trust she had shown letting him operate on her crew members. Most pirates were, in Law's experience, extremely horrid company. They were often crass, stupid, and thought too highly of their strength.

The exceptions, he found, were often the pirates he had to keep the closest eye on. The fact that she had even braved watching him operate just to ensure her crewmate's safety was another mark in Maven's favor.

So he watched as she processed the information.

He watched as her head moved and her eyes scanned over her redheaded crewmate, who still lay passed out and oblivious to the world around her on the cold operation table.

He watched as she turned back, met his gaze, and a flame of _life_ sparked in her eyes.

"We'll deal with that as it comes. For now, she is cured. And our deal stands."

Law felt the corner of his lips tilt upwards in a smirk.

Yes, he'd have to keep his eyes on her. But now she owed him a favor, so they would have to meet again in order for her to carry through with her promise. If there was one thing Law had been able to assess from her, it was that she was not the kind of person to go back on promises or deals. Her entire being was far too honest for that, despite the mischief that was also laced around in her mannerisms and posture. Having her as an emergency ally could greatly help him, even— or maybe especially— if they one day became enemies.

The blonde girl came in (the one who had caught a virus that Law had had to painstakingly remove from her very cells) saw that everything was done, and carefully wheeled the operation bed out into the hallway after receiving a nod from Law.

"Do you ever regret it?" He found himself asking slowly, blinking and dragging his gaze to Maven's as if he had planned to ask that question the whole time. The slightly shorter woman raised a brow, her flat and sleepy looking eyes easily matching his stare with an intensity that would have startled him with the ease it seemed to come to her if he had been almost anybody else. As it was, he found his respect for her crawl up a notch.

"Starting the crew?" She asked back, humming when she received a silent nod in reply. She tucked her thumbs into the biggest pockets in her baggy cargo shorts, seeming to mull over her answer as she looked at him. Feeling it a waste of time to simply return her gaze, Law turned and began to wash his hands and sanitize his equipment for his next patient.

"Not at all," was the other captain's soft reply a minute later, when Law was wiping down a newly sanitized scalpel. He paused, turning his head just the slightly bit so she knew he was listening before he continued the chore he was working on. "At least, not until I had to bury my first crewmate. I questioned myself quite a few times back then, until I realized that she had been far better off with us than she would have been stuck in some sleepy village back in East Blue," her voice was smooth, slow, and steady. As if she knew exactly what to say and knew it would come out right, which Law already knew was bullshit. He only had to watch her around her crew for a few minutes before he realized how goofy she could be, even in a serious situation. But he had to admit, she was damn good at bluffing.

"But the true test will come once I leave the crew," that had his tattooed hands stilling again, this time in shock that he hid as well as he could. "My crew knows full well that I only planned to stay captain for three years before taking off to join my little brother's crew," Law gave up on sanitizing and laid down the tool he was on to turn around completely. He needed to watch Maven's expressions— this wasn't where he thought the conversation would go at all. "Whether or not I made the right choice starting the Hopeless Pirates? That will be made clear once we see how well they hold together without me. _Then_ I can decide whether or not I regret it."

"..." Law knew what he wanted to say, but he didn't know how to say it. So he tapped his fingers on the metal tray holding his newly sanitized equipment, keeping his eyes pinned on her as he figured it out. "How do you know you'll hold out that long?" Was what he settled on, his voice dry but his eyes gleaming with a sharpness that told of there being more to the question than there seemed.

"I join him next year," she easily answered, huffing and leaning against the wall. "Unless I have a huge accident or my disease decides to defy logic and triple in speed before then, neither of which is necessarily out of the realm of possibility but highly unlikely, then I'll be able to keep up my training schedule just fine enough to survive and even improve a bit before then. But I'm not an idiot," with a speed that nearly gave him whiplash, an all too familiar exhaustion swept over the woman's face. He recognized it, just like he recognized the clench of her jaw and the angry and almost hopeless glare she aimed at the floor. The slight tremble in her hands that she tried to hide by slamming them into her pockets.

Sometimes he feared he would wake up again and be sent right back to those same mannerisms.

"I'm not stupid," she repeated, her voice wispy in the way that it was sent past her lips like a sigh, as if that fact was actually something negative. "Unless I somehow end up finding the _perfect_ devil fruit to cure me, I most likely won't last long enough to see my brother and his crew even reach the halfway point of the New World. But damn it, I'll _turn this world upside down_ before then."

And, well, not even Law could doubt something like that when Maven said it with such conviction that her will seemed to swirl across the room like an unseen tornado, lashing him with her declaration as if daring him to doubt her.

"Send in the next patient," he told her, making the woman blink at the sudden topic change. When she left to do just that, Law found himself unable to hide his almost predatory smile in the newly empty room. It was like a fighter meeting their equal for the first time— it filled him with exhilaration to see somebody so determined that it made him want to pursue his own dreams that much more.

"Perhaps stopping here for a quick resupply wasn't as much of an inconvenience as I thought."

—*—*—*—*—*

I immediately left once Law had decided to stop for the day, making a beeline for the pub we had been eating at. I heard footsteps following me leisurely, but didn't bother to extend my Haki to figure out who it was. Once I threw open the door, I felt my jaw clench.

There were no customers. The chefs were huddled in a corner in fear, and all the barmaids and waitresses were strung up by pink ribbons that looked deceptively frail. Dyan was sitting in front of Yalla, patiently looking into her eyes and braiding one of her pigtails. His eyes darted up to me.

"I have her under my devil fruit ability right now," he said softly, easily heard but careful not to be too loud. "She was so angry she almost killed the waitress that confessed. She could break out of my power's hold at any moment, she's still that angry, so it's best not to cause any sudden disruption."

I nodded, seeing the misted-over despair in Yalla's yellow eyes.

"What is his ability doing, exactly?" Law's voice asked startlingly close to my ear, making me tense. His eyes darted to me out of the corner of my eye, reminding me to relax my face out of the ugly startled expression it had doubtlessly twisted itself into. Great. The last person to startle me into silent-panic and ugly-face-making was Dragon, which really said a lot about the fact that Law was the next one. The Geezer has managed it a few times back when I had been at the Marine HQ, but after moving onto Mount Colubo his visits evoked more of the scream-and-run type of fear. I had merely been too trapped at the HQ beforehand.

"He ate the Child-child fruit. He can make other people into Older Siblings. It's a type of hypnosis or mind control that makes whoever he has under his control obey his requests," I purposely worded it to make it seem like Dyan's power was more straightforward and powerful than the tricky thing actually was. No need to let my guard down. I also purposely left out the fact that eye contact was necessary, knowing Law wouldn't ask since it was obvious I wouldn't be giving away any of my crew's weaknesses beyond what he would already find as their temporary doctor.

Law's eyebrows raised, his gaze sliding away from me and onto my small crewmate in assessment. "Handy for this type of situation," he mused idly. "Why don't you let her rampage? The waitress deserves it for spiking his drink."

Trick question. I rolled my eyes, pinning him with a glare to try and get across the message that I wasn't going to fall for his stupid verbal tricks. "We don't kill unless necessary. And Yalla is only thirteen, she doesn't need that on her conscience," I answered flippantly, giving him as little information as possible. I caught the corner of his mouth twitching up into a grin out of the corner of my eye. Asshole.

It would be hard not to get attached to him. He was easy to get along with. Stupid asshole.

Yeah, I liked his attitude. So what?

"Anyway, we can't keep her under Dyan's control all night," I rolled my shoulders. "Brace for impact."

"Wha—"

Dyan let Yalla out of his hold at my words, and the world exploded into motion. The ribbons strewn around the room and through the rafters started moving and lashing like angry snakes, all connected to Yalla's fingers or arms. Law was forced to leap back to avoid getting slashed at, the ribbons moving fast enough to slice through flesh if they got a good hit. Covering myself with the weaker, invisible form of Armament, I ran to her side. The pinkette was crying, anger making her eyes bright and her body tremble. Putting my hands on her shoulder, I knelt in front of her and stared into those yellow orbs.

"Oi. He's alive, idiot."

The ribbons froze. Usually Yalla needed someone soft and gentle to console her, like when Lin died. But right then, with anger blinding her, any sort of softness would be drowned by her fury and unable to wake her up from her rage. She needed something firm just then, something to slap her to her senses.

"A-alive..?" She whispered, her voice hoarse and small as if she didn't want to believe it. I never looked away from her sunny eyes.

"Alive," I confirmed steadily. "Kilik will need a lot of time to recover, he might not ever be back to normal, but he's alive and you're acting like a baby. Hurting these people isn't gonna do shit. So take a deep breath, let them go, and go sit by his bed. Got it?"

Yalla took a deep, trembling breath. I waited, watching her close her eyes to get control of herself. Slowly, the ribbons hanging the waitresses and barmaids by their ankles lowered and allowed the terrified women to scuttle away.

"Yes, Captain," Yalla's hoarse voice answered after a long moment. I stood up, releasing her shoulder and watching as she left.

I pretended I hadn't felt the heavy weight of Law's gaze throughout the whole ordeal.

—*—*—*—*—*

"Here comes the battleship, say 'aah,'" Maven's voice was serious despite the mirth lifting up her eyes. Kilik was sitting in a plain cot in a very hospital-like room in Law's submarine. His condition was flimsy enough that Law wanted to monitor him overnight and for most of the day following his operation. It was the morning after the operation that led to Maven sitting next to his cot with a bowl of soup, a spoon, and a determination to feed him.

"You know, my arms work fine," he groused, glaring at her. The sleep still clinging to his eyes and the way his brown hair was tousled with sleep made him look like a whining little kid. "See? Fingers, hands, arms, all good to go. Working at prime capacity," he wiggled his fingers in her face to make his point. Maven just rolled her eyes.

"Yeah yeah. I'll have to carry you back to our ship in a few hours, so you might as well lose all your dignity in one fell swoop," Law watched from the doorway as Maven said this, raising an eyebrow at how she softened the blow of the bad news Kilik was already aware of by following the statement with something purposely annoying. Kilik's body was far from making a full recovery. His body was too harmed by the venom in his blood, and even the reduction of potency didn't mean the venom was suddenly a solved issue— it was still chipping away at the man. That was something Law knew all too well— Kilik and that man Dyan's illnesses were the most similar to the Amber Lead Poisoning that had almost killed him.

The fact that Kilik had full control of his hands was, therefore, expectedly countered by the fact that he couldn't feel his legs. Had he only been a swordsman, it would have been the end of his career unless he somehow gained it back— which was possible, but unlikely. However, Kilik was _not_ only a swordsman, he was a weaponsmith first and foremost. That meant that as long as he had his hands, he could get by.

It wasn't until Maven left (after Kilik was force fed the entire bowl of soup) and Law had went over to do a checkup that Kilik looked directly at him for the first time. The man's eyes were childish when he had been with his captain, but they were tired and sober when he met Law's stare.

"Yalla, the little girl with pink hair and Dyan, the bratty green haired boy. Can you tell them I want to see them? Tell them that I want to work on the project."

Law frowned, drawing his eyebrows down over his eyes. "I don't recommend that you do anything strenuous. If you were part of my crew, I'd have you strapped to the bed for the rest of the day."

"Kinky," Kilik said with an eye roll, barely giving Law's word a glimmer of consideration. "It's not like I can run around right now. Look— Maven is a force of nature," Kilik ran a hand through his messy hair, frowning and looking slightly off to Law's side as he considered how to phrase what he was saying. "She's lived almost seven times the previous record for her disease. She knew the whole time that most of us won't be able to do that, and burying Lin— our former navigator— woke her up a bit. But I don't think it's sunk in that some of us have been in the crew for a year and a half now. I didn't expect to make it _this_ long," Kilik's words had Law sitting back, pausing his checkup. He recognized the words of someone who knew they were too far gone to save. It was best to listen while he could. "I've been expecting to deteriorate like this for months. Maven might think I have a chance to get back on my feet, but you know the odds. I can _feel_ the odds. Let me finish my last goddamned smithwork, I only have the willpower left to last that long."

"Don't run to the grave now," Law said coldly, moving forward to resume his examination. "I'll send them in after I've made sure you're as well off as you can be. I don't know you, but I take my work seriously. You won't be dying this week, maybe not even next. So shut up and relax."

"Your bedside manner sucks."

—*—*—*—*—*

Three days passed, and everyone had been in to see Law. Even I had gotten a checkup just for the hell of it, since having the opinion of another doctor was never necessarily a bad thing. Of course, Law couldn't tell me anything I didn't already know and I didn't allow him to do any tests that would show _him_ anything I didn't _want him_ to know.

I stood on the dock, in front of where Law's submarine and my ships were moored. Everyone had a drink in hand (double checked to be non-alcoholic for almost everyone in my crew) but we were just finishing up a calm drink between the two crews before getting ready to head off.

"Everything's loaded, Big Sis!" Conill called from aboard the Dying Rabid, his long ears straight up and his nose twitching. His foot began to stomp rapidly, and he seemed a bit nervous. "I got a bad feeling, we should leave soon!"

I tilted my head, humming softly in thought. Conill, as a bunny mink, was usually pretty attune to danger. Most of the time we shrugged it off as a bunny's paranoia, but he was usually right despite our teasing. Emptying the last of my mango juice, I handed my jug off to the crewmember in charge of our dishes and double checked to make sure I had everything I needed on me. Everything in my pockets was accounted for, Stormfall was on my back, my fedora was firmly in place on my head. All good to go.

"Alright guys, Conill's bunny senses are tingling," everyone chuckled at the joke, even though I knew they wouldn't get my reference. "I want to listen to them today. I could barely finish my juice, so it's probably something big."

Everyone of my crew members immediately sprung into action. Law looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Why would you not being able to finish juice make a difference?" He asked dubiously. I chuckled; I had forgotten he didn't know me very well.

"I can eat a dozen pounds of fruit in one sitting. If I can barely finish something made of fruit, something is wrong. It's just a fact," I explained. "Cala, climb up and see if you can see anything on the horizon!"

The zoan nodded, chugging the last of his milk before handing off his jug and hopping on top of one of the sails with his spyglass in his hands. I watched, feeling an odd tingle of energy run through me. Glancing over, I saw that it was not Law. He was talking to Bepo with his arms crossed, not even paying me any attention. I furrowed my brows, about to ask if anyone else could feel the crackle of energy in the air when Cala yelped. The air went silent, and I whipped my head up to look at him. The lynx zoan was wide eyed and shocked when he looked down at me and Law.

"Marines!" He called out. I raised an eyebrow at first, not getting his shock over some marines. "A dog as their figurehead! It's Vice Admiral Garp!"

I could feel myself pale, and my laugh was obviously forced.

"Oh we are so screwed," I muttered, turning to look at Law, whose eyes were wide in his normally calm face. "Go. He's here for me, he won't go out of his way for a submarine. Besides, I'll distract him. We'll consider this the favor I owe you."

"Fuck—" Law's face twisted into shocked annoyance, his eye twitching as he realized his advantage over me had spontaneously combusted. I almost laughed, but the severity of the situation kept me from doing so. He couldn't even disagree with me, because he wouldn't stand a chance against Garp if we left him in the dust and he knew it. Then realization crossed over his face after he ordered his crew to get on the submarine.

"Wait— Why is he after you?" He asked, curiosity momentarily winning over his rush. I didn't even look at him as I took my axe off my back.

"You got fifteen minutes, I don't think I can stall him longer than that before we have to run too. And as for your question— my family is absolutely crazy. Certifiably insane. Stupid geezer," I felt a predatory smile taking over my face without my consent. "My birthday's coming up, maybe he decided to pay his only granddaughter a happy little visit."

Law could only stutter at me, and I grinned at his face. I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to see him caught off guard like that again for quite a long time, if ever. Tearing one of my hands away from Stormfall, I roughly patted his shoulder. "Go, quickly. He'll be here any minute."

Leaving Law to do his own thing, I ran and leapt on top of the Dying Dream. "Everyone on your ships! Helmsmen, steer us away from the island! Give us enough room to fight and flee, but don't get too close to them, let them come to us!"

"I don't wanna do this," Cala groaned from his place up on a viewing deck where he had a good vantage point. "This is Maven's grandfather we're talking about. He's had more time to perfect being a monster than any of us have been _alive."_

"He shouldn't even be in Para— ohhhhh," I grimaced. "He's on his way to visit Luffy. He must have decided to track me down on his way."

"Do you want your brother buried on Hopeless Island?" Kilik asked from his place sitting on a beach chair on the Dream's deck. "Having Garp visit him every year might as well be a terminal illness of its own."

That startled laugh out of me. "I survived it, he will too," I replied easily. "He only has to tough it out for one more year and then he can get out," the ship was finally in view, the large sleepy looking dog head's figurehead striking me with equal parts nostalgia and deep seated terror. I had been on that ship countless times, for countless trips into random jungles and trips to visit Luffy at Dawn Island. I had even been on that shop during a few raids on pirate crews, though I was forbidden to leave my room to even see what was going on during them.

"Defenders, to your places! Ship leaders, to the bow! Main offense, get ready! Navigators, Helmsmen, be ready for combat but stay close to your stations. We need to be ready for a quick getaway. Cala, what eternal poses do we have?"

"Alabasta, Sabaody, Holliday, Jaya, San Faldo, and Nanimonai!" He answered after a brief pause to check the collection. "Besides the obvious, of course," he patted the Hopeless Island pose on his hip. I nodded.

"Okay. Navigators, get the course for Holliday Island ready! We all deserve a damn vacation after this anyway," I ordered as I ran up to take my place on the center Cerberus head at the front of the Dying Dream. Stormfall was tightly clutched in my right hand, my left tugging a cord that had been threaded through my fedora and pulling it over my head so I wouldn't lose my precious hat. Lily and Conill were at the front of their respective ships, at the ready. Lily was in her inch-tall size, clutching her fork as tightly as I clutched my axe. Conill fiddled nervously with the sais clutched in his paws. Synalla walked up to stand by me on the right Cerberus head, with Raz climbing onto the left head. Yalla was standing on top of the center most sail, both arms already turned into ribbons and waving wildly in the wind.

Five tense minutes passed as Gramps' ship pulled in front of mine, and I was confident that Law had gotten a god head start. The Geezer wouldn't even realize he had missed another crew.

There he was. The giant of a man stood on top of his own figurehead, his strong arms crossed and the signature Monkey family grin taking over his face.

"Look at that!" His booming voice easily bridged the gap between our ships. "We both have dogs as our figureheads. I knew you loved me! BWAHAHAHA!"

" _MAVEN WE MISS YOU!"_ a few of the marines who had known me back when I had been a regular visitor on the Geezer's ship cried out, I could actually see their crying faces.

"Shut up you idiots!" Gramps yelled at them, but quickly turned back to run his gaze over my crew that he could see. I didn't know if he had Observation, but based on the fact that we had never been able to hide from him as kids I figured it was very likely. Therefore, I nodded at Lily as permission for her to size up. The Geezer's grin widened a bit (if that was even possible) at the sight of the giant now standing with her legs spread to distribute her weight on the Dying Hope without tipping it over.

" A giant, fishmen, minks, devil fruit users, a snakeneck," Gramps mused as he looked over everyone he could see. "BWAHAHAHA! Quite the interesting crew you have!"

"Quit the chatter you stupid geezer!" I snapped back, eyebrow twitching. "What the hell do you want?"

"You ungrateful little brat!" He shook his fist at me. "You're too far away for a Fist of Love!" I involuntarily shuttered at the move's very name, but held my ground. "So, take a—" I rose Stormfall into a defensive position as Gramps predatorily grinned and bent over to grab something. "CANNONBALL OF LOVE!"

"YOU CAN KEEP YOUR FUCKING CANNONBALLS!" I yelled back even as he pulled his arm back and tossed the weapon towards me. "Lily!"

"Got it, Big Sis!" Lily's size allowed her to just extend her arms while holding her fork, and bat the cannonball back at the marine ship as if we were playing baseball. The Geezer batted the weapon back at us, his force causing it to explode before it even reached us. The force of the explosion churned up waves that rocked all four ships, and I used the momentary break it caused to wind up for my own strike.

"GET LOST!" I shouted— "LIGHTNING SLASH!" Shifting my feet into a more stable position I swung Stormfall down as quickly and harshly as I could, mustering every ounce of survival instinct I had into the strike. My slice cut though the still-chopping waves, the purple spark showing where it was sparking in the air as it neared my Gramps. He just laughed merrily, eyes shining with pride.

I might have wilted a little (a lot) when he just held out a hand sheathed in hardening and stopped the slice from ever touching his vessel. A tiny chip off the paint of his figurehead was the only indication that the flying slash had even breached the distance between the boats.

"Bwahahaha! Good, you haven't been slacking off since you ran off to be a damn pirate!" He barked cheerfully, never losing his wide smile. "My granddaughter can do a flying slash, did you idiots see that?! BWAHAHAHA! She can kick all of your asses!" He just kept laughing, and I actually couldn't resist the urge to facepalm. Even when we were enemies he bragged about me. He did it for all of us, even though he did it to Luffy the most since he was the only one actually biologically related to him. Still.

"Don't embarrass me in front of my crew, you damn geezer!" I hissed at him, feeling a vein throbbing in my forehead from sheer annoyance.

"Gah!" He glared at me. "Don't talk to your elders like that you stinking brat! I came to tell you happy birthday before going to train Luffy. I still have time to make him into a strong marine!"

I couldn't help it, I dropped my arms and raised my eyebrows at him in a _very_ deadpan look.

"Do you actually believe that or is it just wishful thinking?" I asked dryly, taking pride in the sweatdrop that appeared on his face almost immediately. "That's what I thought. Luffy's gonna be the King of Pirates old man, and I'm gonna join him to be his first mate. Deal with it."

Gramps got an unreadable look on his face, his eyes meeting mine. For a long, tense moment everything was quiet.

"Happy early nineteenth birthday, Maven."

I took a deep breath, letting his words sink in. Eighteen years. I had somehow pulled through eighteen years of dying.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAVEN!" The chorus of voices from behind Gramps startled me, making my eyes widen.

"They're onto Ace," Garp said, voice grim. "I almost got fired when they found out about that, bwahaha. But it won't be long until they connect the dots to you," he didn't need to elaborate on _who_ he was talking to or what they were 'on about.' The admirals had figured out that Ace's father was Rogers. "Survive today, and keep surviving Maven," He hefted a giant cannonball over his head that was not quite as big as the one I remembered him throwing at the Straw Hats from the anime, but still huge. "Show me— Show us _all_ — what you can do!"

He threw the cannonball.

And his fellow marines started launching harpoons at us and firing off smaller cannonballs.

"oh yeah I almost forgot— FUCK YOU FOR TEACHING HINA HAKI YOU EVIL GEEZER!" I growled, the harpoons reminding me of the pink haired pain in my ass. "Yalla, Gino! Defenders! Repel the harpoons! Attackers, get the cannonballs! Leaders, you know what to do!" Gramps was taking out another giant cannonball and aiming it at us. "HELMSMEN, start turning us around!"

I heaved Stormfall over my shoulder, jumping straight up and batting the large cannonball away from us. It hit the water next to the Geezer's ship, exploding and causing it to sway dangerously on humongous waves. I could hear my stupid grandfather's excited laughter right as another shadow fell over our ships— he had thrown the next cannonball.

Conill got it. His powerful bunny legs show him straight up to eye level of the large projectile, his sais coated in Haki as he sliced. Having a bunny's speed, he easily chopped the weapon into tiny chunks and kicked each one away. Raz had a hand cannon loaded on his shoulder, and aimed it at my grandfather's ship. Pulling the trigger, three orbs flew off one by one, exploding into three different colors right as they reached the air over the battleship. Pastel pink, green, and blue temporarily blocked our vision of the marines as our ships turned away so we could begin to flee.

"The blue is a sleeping agent, the pink is a hallucinogen, and the green is a paralyzing agent," Raz informed me calmly. "do you think your grandfather got affected by any of them?"

I shook my head, frowning but keeping a careful focus on the color-obscured ship. "No, but—" the wind swept the powder away to reveal a Vice Admiral Garp that was sleeping standing up. I felt my eyebrow twitch. "Never mind, I forgot he was an idiot."

He suddenly startled awake, as if instinctually sensing me bad mouthing him. "Oh, sorry!" He laughed, crossing his arms. "I got bored by your tactics!"

I felt my hand shake in annoyance. Honestly, that stupid geezer pissed me off!

"Gino, Water bullets! Try to blow holes in their hull!" I ordered, Synalla hopping up to slice incoming cannonballs with her tessen. The fishman grinned, showing off his sharp teeth as he ran forward and jumped overboard. Using the water around him he shot bullets of water towards the marine ship, but each droplet was blasted away by scarily accurate gunshots before they could ever reach the hull. Bogard. The man grinned at me, twirling his gun.

"Nice try," he commented simply. I huffed, but by then our ships were pointing sufficiently in a different direction, causing me to grin.

"Escape!" I yelled, Yalla using her ribbon arms to close all of the sails. Gino and two other fishman crewmembers, all in the water, shoved our ships in the direction yelled out by each ship's navigator. Squawking in surprise, Gramps lifted one of their huge cannons over his head, throwing the weapon at me. I rolled my eyes, slipping Stormfall into my holster on my back before leaping up and kicking the metal contraption back at him. "BYE! I HOPE I NEVER RUN INTO YOU AGAIN! I HATED THE BIRTHDAY GIFT!" I turned to face my crew. "LET'S GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

—*—*—*—*—*

"Kind of disappointing," Kilik muttered the following day to Yalla and Dyan. They were in the smithy on the Dying Dream, Kilik in a chair in front of his anvil as he tapped at a smooth length of metal. "I wouldn't have made any difference, so that doesn't really bother me. But we couldn't even scratch the ship. Just when I feel like we're unbeatable, we're forced to run away before we get our asses handed to us," he lifted the thin strip of metal up, inspecting it in the light of the forge.

"Eh," Yalla shrugged from where she was sat on another chair, stitching the embroidery on a piece of leather cut into a hand shape. Nothing was stitched together yet, that would have to wait until all the hinges and mechanics were done, but she was getting the designs in beforehand. "What do you expect? It wasn't just any vice admiral. It was Garp the Fist. That guy fought Gold Roger back in the day," the teen squinted her eyes as she inspected her work. "He's as strong as an admiral, probably would be one if he wanted to be."

"She's right," Dyan agreed, reading a book as he sat upside down in another chair. "He's older than Whitebeard and just as dangerous. We'll never be the strongest crew anyway, you know that," he lifted his eyes from the book's pages to glance at Kilik. "We _all_ know that. We will never keep an entire crew roster long enough to build up that kind of strength. We won't be battling any Yonko anytime soon, but we don't have to. That's not the point of our crew," he went back to reading. "We'll be in a class entirely of our own. People will say; 'there's four main forces on the seas. The Yonko, the Marines, the Revolutionaries, and he Hopeless Pirates,' because we might not ever be as physically strong as any Yonko or Admirals," Dyan grinned. "But we'll be even _harder_ to get rid of."

Kilik chuckled, cheer returning to his face. He really shouldn't have been in the forge, his lungs and other organs severely weakened and at risk for failure after what happened on Jaya, but he knew he had to finish Maven's gift first. He fitted two metal pieces together, placing a screw to link them together and tightening it into place with some pliers.

"Yeah, that's true," he agreed easily. "Nobody will ever face the same Hopeless Pirates twice, so nobody will be able to completely adapt to fighting us."

All three of them smiled.

Slightly over two weeks later, exactly three weeks since that fateful day of drinking on Jaya and exactly on Christmas Day, Maven stood in the doorway of the private room Kilik had been given on the Dream for his recovery. He was pale, his hands trembling and unable to stay still. The captain felt her throat dry, and her eyes sting. This was worse than Lin. It was worse because this time there wasn't anything she had done wrong. It was worse because she hadn't made any mistakes. She didn't have anything or anyone to blame, not really. The barmaid that spiked his drink? She hadn't done anything time wouldn't have done on its own. It was worse because Lin had gone quickly, she hadn't had time to bask in the reality of her death. It was worse because she was watching her friend die slowly, yet faster than ever, every day. Every day he was little more gone, a little more weak, a little less him. Every day he needed to rest more, work less, take more medicine.

It was worse because she could see him fading away in front of her.

Gathering whatever courage she had left, the woman walked into the room and sat by his bed. "Hey," she whispered. His foggy eyes moved over to her, recognition there but frail.

Maven could feel her fingers digging into her hand despite the smile on Kilik's lips.

That cinnamon hair of his that she had loved so much was ashen too, as if reflecting his life. It fell limply instead of defying gravity with whimsical fluffiness like it usually did.

"Merry Christmas," his voice was the only thing strong left about him, coming out just as cheerful as ever— if maybe a bit more softly than normal. "How are you doing? Did the crew get you enough exotic fruit?"

Maven's following laugh felt simultaneously the fakest and most genuine she had ever made. "Yeah. I got plenty. Starfruit, Galaxy fruit, ooh and that giant jackfruit I got is going to be great to work with. I can eat it as an actual savory dish, my mouth is watering just thinking of the possibilities."

Maven memorized Kilik's laugh, hanging on to every last bit of the sound. She kept her eyes on her friend's face, memorizing the colors and lines.

"I got you a gift. I wanted it to be for your birthday, but Christmas is just as good," he said as he reached under his pillow to pull out two delicately wrapped boxes. "It's not just a Christmas or New Year's gift, though. It's an anniversary gift," he smiled a bit dazedly. "Happy one-and-a-half year anniversary of entering the Grand Line as the Hopeless Pirates. Happy two year anniversary of leaving to _become_ a pirate."

Maven gently took the boxes from him, eyes wide. She wasn't expecting a gift, wrapped gifts rare for the crew to trade. They usually just partied or gifted food or materials, not actual _presents._ She could feel her breath catch, looking up to meet his gaze before looking back down. Slowly, she unwrapped the boxes.

Lifting the nondescript white lid off of one, she felt her shoulders fall in shock at the two gloves that rested inside. They were made of matte black leather, and had gorgeous embroidery on the backs of a purple battle axe— _Stormfall, it was a perfect embroidery of Stormfall—_ chopping a white clock in half.

She didn't bother trying to stifle the silent tears that ran down her face.

There were purple embroidered lightning bolts going down the sides of each finger too, with a button between the bolts and sitting over each joint. The buttons were silver metal. Gently, she slid her hands into the gloves. She could feel the metal pieces in the fingers, which were lined on the inside so the metal didn't actually touch her skin. When she turned her now gloves hands over, she saw her name engraved in silver in cursive on her wrist, right above her pulse point.

"Oh my god," Maven breathed, stunned by the lovely gear. "Kilik, is this what you were finishing up in the forge?"

"Yeah," he admitted softly, his gaze gentle as he watched her admire his works. "Yalla did the designs. Gino got the materials, and Dyan hypnotized you into giving your measurements," he told her. Maven chuckled breathlessly at the memory of giving over seemingly random outlines of her hands to the former king. "The buttons are for tension, so you can exercise your grip with or without specific tools. Press up to ten times to increase tension a bit at a time, hold for five seconds to release all tension. The leather is special, Gino got it off the black market. You won't wear through it, probably ever. The metal is the highest quality titanium that Gino could find, too. Each glove is even fifty pounds, so you will be lightly working out your wrist just by wearing them and not just anybody will be able to put them on or steal them."

Maven wipes the gloves off on her crop top— tears had gotten onto them.

"There's a second box, you know," Kilik teased lightly, one side of his lips pulled up into a tired smile. Maven gathered herself, taking a moment to silently observe her friend before nodding and lifting the lid off the second box.

Usurper Maven had to clench her eyes tightly shut. There in the box, laid foot gloves that were made from the same material and in the same general design as he hand gloves. They would only cover the toes and an inch past the pad of her feet, but they were perfect. There, in stark white embroidery on the backs of them, was the Hopeless Pirates' Jolly Roger. Below the Jolly Roger was a simple design they had probably gotten from Sabo— the letters ASL with a cursive M behind them all. Ace had only gotten his name tattooed on his left arm, not the ASCE that she had expected from the manga since she had changed the timeline. But the ASLM was their "Jolly Roger" back when they had moved into the treehouse and out of Dadan's hut. With Maven's initial in place of crossbones.

She decided right then and there that she would get that tattooed on her right arm.

"Works the same way as the gloves," Kilik interrupted her thought process, making her blink up at him. She wasted no time, slipping off her boots and socks and sliding the things on.

"They're perfect," Maven breathed to him, looking up and meeting his eyes.

"Good, I had to bribe Raz to sedate you so we could get your foot measurements," Kilik weakly joked. Maven chuckled with him, knowing what he said was probably true. She couldn't bring herself to be even the slightest bit mad.

"Thank you," her voice was filled in feeling, and she leaned forward and rabble done of his shaking hands in both of her own. "I mean it. _Thank you."_

"No," Kilik shook his head. "I owe you, for allowing me to be a part of— a part of _this,"_ he waved his free hand weakly to indicate the general space around him. "The Hopeless Pirates. This crew. This family, all of it. These can't even begin to pay you back for how much that means to me," he leaned back onto his pillow, smiling up at the ceiling. "I really had a lot of fun."

"Kilik—"

"I want my requiem to be a month of you guys finding the weirdest new weapons to try out," he interrupted before she could say another word. "Broaden your horizons, you know? Maybe you guys'll find something really cool you didn't know you needed."

Maven stayed there in silence as he fell asleep. An hour later, she took his pulse and sighed. Sitting back in her chair, she gently banged her head against the wall behind her. Her eyes stung, but were dry. She was out of tears.

"At least we're only a week out from Hopeless Island."

—*—*—*—*—*

They buried Kilik on New Years. Maven insisted she didn't want to wait, getting off the Dying Dream the moment they reached land and digging a shovel into the nearly frozen ground of the spring island in the midst of its winter. Katie did the engraving like the last time, Kilik's name and his age at death underneath it. Underneath it all was the quote from him;

"Just laugh damn it. In a world as unfair as ours, we need it."

"Laila, Ferry," Maven called out to the two musicians in her crew, both only on their sixth and eighth months in the crew respectively, who came to stand by her side at the head of the grave she had dug and right next to where the tombstone was placed by Gino. Laila had a violin and Ferry had a cello, both at the ready. Azalea joined them, unfolding a keyboard and settling it into the ground. Apparently the magician had many talents.

Conill and Lily carried out the cinnamon colored casket, chocolate brown swirls and carvings decorating the box. Maven watched numbly as they lowered it into the grave, and Yalla swept the dirt over it with Pretty Farewell. She was still crying. Her pink hair, normally in pigtails, was flowing freely down her back and lightly dusting across the tips of the blades of grass beneath her. Maven took a deep breath as the crew gathered solemnly at the grave. Yalla placed Kilik's circular clock-swords on top of each other before slamming them into the top of the tombstone, where they stuck. If she left a small pink ribbon tying the curved hilts together, nobody mentioned it.

The captain of the Hopeless Pirates drew in a deep breath, passing her gaze not only over the grave they had just dug and filled, but the old grave that lay a mere few feet to the left. Dandelions were already growing over it, mysteriously only covering the space directly above where the casket must have lain. Just like on Lin's grave, Gino nailed Kilik's eternal pose to Hopeless Island on the tombstone. Right in front of his swords.

"We will never forget you," Maven's voice carried over the silent island. "You brought laughter and fun and brightness to our lives. You provided a family to Yalla, the brother she had always wanted. You were a brother to all of us. A best friend. I believe many of us forgot that the word serious even existed when we were around you, because you made it seem like you didn't think it existed and we wanted to believe that too," Maven clenched her hands tightly. The leather gloves she wore creaked slightly, but she ignored it. They were his last work, his last gift to her. She turned her head to the three people gathered at her side with instruments. She had spent the past month with them, constructing the music from memory despite her inability to read musical notes. The result was accurate enough that she had no issue asking them to play it for him right then.

Ferry started strumming out the beat on her cello, Laila and Azalea waiting for their cue. Maven counted it the beats, and began to sing.

"Musing through the memories, losing my grip in the grey," three words carried easily over the flower ridden fields. Even the trees seemed to lean in to listen.

"Numbing the senses, I feel you slipping away," nobody could tell if the slight rasp was the one that normally clung to her voice, or if it was her grief showing through. "Fighting to hold on, clinging to just one more day. Love turns to ashes with all that I wish I could say."

Yalla found herself crying, before catching on to the lyrics and joining in on the chorus.

Maven's voice alone rose up on the other lines, cutting through the solemn air.

"Hidden complain, Phantom be still in my heart. Make me a promise, that time won't erase us, that we weren't lost since the start,"

A breeze blew through, sending Maven's long curled hair flying behind her.

"Ever slightly out of reach , I dream that you're still here. But it breaks so easily, I try to protect you, I can't let you fade, I feel you slipping away. I feel you slipping away."

Slowly, one at a time, voices chimed in to the chorus.

"Every night, I dream you're still here. The ghost by my side so perfectly clear. When I awake, you disappear back to the shadows with all I hold dear. With all I hold dear. I dream you're still here. I dream you're still here."

Maven's eyes were closed, and her crew allowed her the final line.

"Every night, I dream you're still here."

One year left until Maven joins Luffy at Baratie.

Maven is nineteen.

She forgot to celebrate her birthday.

— ***—*—*—*—***

**I said sorry.**

**Now you know why.**

**Apparently this is what I do instead of writing a statement of purpose for my transfer application to university. Technically it's optional since I'm still an undergrad, but I'm applying to the creative writing department so not writing it will not exactly do me any favors. I might also be moving out of my parent's house this summer..? We'll see. And I'm getting a pet snake for Christmas! I have to wait until my dad gets paid in the first week of January, but still!**

***** **･゜ﾟ･** ***:.** **｡** **..** **｡** **.:*** **･** **'(*** **ﾟ▽ﾟ** ***)'** **･** ***:.** **｡** **. .** **｡** **.:*** **･゜ﾟ･** *****

**BY THE WAY: the song sung is Still Here by Digital Daggers. I like it a lot if you can't tell x.X**

**Thank you so much for reading!**

**See you next chapter~**


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I put up chapters 21-23 all on Jan 1, so make sure you didn’t accidentally skip any chapters

"Alright," I said out loud, stretching my arms as Hopeless Island faded into the background. "Happy new year's. Great way to start out the last year of me sailing with you all," I drawled sarcastically, earning weak chuckles for my effort. "Now then! Matters to take care of. First of all, Kilik's Requiem. He actually told me what he wanted it to be himself before he fell asleep on Christmas. It should surprise absolutely nobody that he wants us to spend the month finding the oddest weapons we can and experimenting with using them, to broaden our horizons," the very classic _Kilik_ kind of request forced nostalgic smiles onto faces everywhere. "So we'll start that up as soon as we dock on the next island. Brawlers, it wouldn't hurt to try out different brass knuckles or similar melee weapons. Give it a try, alright?"

Affirmative rose up across the three ships. "Secondly, we'll need a new ship in his honor once we bulk up with more members again. Every member of the Original six Hopeless Pirates should get a ship in their honor after they die for our fleet, and every ship we get afterwards will be named— in chronological order— after another deceased member. The Dying Dream is my ship, so don't you dare name a second after me. Sound good?"

"It makes me happy, really," Lilly spoke up. She was sitting on the edge of the Dying Hope, in a very unstable "normal" size she was trying out. It was hard for her to maintain, and every few minutes she would shrink back down to an inch or two tall, but she was working on it. Her legs dangled and cheerfully kicked out over the water, her fork casually cradled in the crook of one arm. "I look at the Rabid, and I remember Lin. Knowing we might all have a ship of ours in this fleet some day— it makes me feel like we never truly leave the crew, ya know?"

"We don't," I agreed, a soft smile curving over my lips almost on its own. "Like I always say, not even death can take away our membership in the Hopeless Pirates. Only a betrayal of the highest degree could do that, and I hope we never have to see that happen," I stared off towards the horizon for a moment. I was standing on a crate so that everyone from all three ships would have no problem seeing me as I spoke. "Lastly. Is there anyone who isn't ready to head back to the New World? I wanna pay my biannual visit to Whitebeard."

Lily and Conill perked up, neither of them having been old enough members back during the first visit to actually get to see much of the Whitebeard crew. But as ship leaders, they would come up with me to visit the Moby Dick that time around.

"Oh yeah, Gino," I turned to the buff fishman, who looked at me curiously from where he was hammering away at something. "I think Law forgot that he mostly cured you, and therefore still has one favor he can cash in from me. Do you wanna bet on how long it takes him to realize it?"

The buff man laughed. "He might have been griping for hours about not being a gardener," Gino started. Since his Akui Hanaki had black rose bushes growing out of his lungs, Law had been forced to trim them down with sterilized gardening tools— thus the doctor's bad mood about the operation. "But I doubt he forgot 'bout me. He'll cash in that favor if he needs to, so no bets!"

I huffed. "Fair enough," I agreed with a shrug. Distraction successful, I turned to head into the girl's cabin.

I was met almost immediately with a head of golden hair. Katie has said she was going to take a nap and handed off the helm to Cala for the time being, but she was sitting in her cot wide awake when I arrived. In fact, she was looking straight at me.

Her bright sapphire eyes easily met mine, and with a blink I shut the door behind me and went to sit on my own cot. Almost immediately, she took a seat next to me and wrapped me in her slender arms.

The tears I didn't know I even still had built up again, and came pouring out. I felt my teeth tearing into my bottom lip as I tried to hold in my sobs, but my first mate just patiently ran her hand across my shoulder blade in gentle circles.

"That's two," I managed to hoarsely point out, my voice scratchy. "Two of us from East blue. The original six. A whole third of the original Hopeless crew, gone," I wrapped my hands around Katie as I spoke, clinging onto her desperately as I tried to anchor myself. Tried to calm down. But burying a friend was not something I felt I would ever be able to get used to. "And Yalla is turning fourteen next month. I— she and Kilik were inseparable, she'll be miserable on her birthday without him!"

"You mean, like you?" My old friend asked, pulling away from me just enough to look me in the eye. "It's new year's. _Your_ birthday today, and you insisted on his funeral instead of any celebration. I'm pretty sure everyone else even forgot your birthday was today at all, and they probably won't remember until we're celebrating on the Moby Dick."

"I don't care," I said firmly, tightening my grip around her. "I got my gloves from Kilik. For hands and feet. Those are the only gifts I need this year."

"Okay," the blond agreed. "Then let's sit here. Tell me about your brothers, you never talk about what it was like growing up with them."

I pulled away from our hug, leaning back against the wall and raising an eyebrow at the younger girl. "Well yeah. It's not cool to talk about them all the time, as if they're more important than you guys," I said slowly, but hummed in thought for a moment. "But… if it's you, I guess it's fine. When we were kids, Ace was a little shit. He didn't know we were twins, so he'd always glare at me from across the room as if I was insulting him just by being there or something… or maybe he was secretly constipated all the time, I don't know…"

—*—*—*—*—*

When I first made it on board the Moby Dick a couple weeks later, everything was suspiciously quiet and Ace was missing. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion as the crew allowed us to walk up to Whitebeard without saying a single word to us. Their eyes were heavy as their gazes followed us.

"Look! It's _Momma Maven!"_ Thatch and Marco crowed at the same time as soon as I came to stop in front of the massive captain, who suddenly couldn't hide his teasing grin. I instantly felt a vein throb in my forehead. The whole ship burst into laughter. I was betrayed.

" _ACE YOU LITTLE BRAT!"_ I shouted angrily, knowing he had to be close enough to hear me. No wonder he was nowhere in sight. The day had been crappy so far. I dug a hand into my pocket. "First I find out that that asshole Shanks is the one bribing the newspapers to keep calling me that—" I pull a wrinkled (I had crushed it in my fist when I had first seen it) sheet of paper out of my pocket. Red marker was streaked in bold lettering across the paper, with a doodle of Shanks sticking out his tongue taking place of a signature at the bottom of the note. The letters read: _I hope you appreciate the effort I've put in to keeping your name well known. Momma Maven will go down in history!_ (The "Dwahahaha" He must have been cackling while writing the note was almost audible while reading it). "—and now I find out that my own _twin_ has embarrassed me on purpose. Absolutely ridiculous," I shoved Shank's note back into my pocket and walked forward to take my customary seat in front of Whitebeard. Nobody fell for my faux anger, knowing I was annoyed but hiding my amusement at the whole thing at the same time.

Embarrassment was the most prevalent emotion, however.

"Gurarara! That brat Shanks has his eyes on you, eh?" Whitebeard asked, his grin never faltering. Thatch was pouring Sake for Whitebeard in the giant cup he drank from, but knowing my health condition this time around he looked at me for permission before trying to pour any of the alcohol for me. I smiled at him, amused.

"I'm losing muscle, my liver has nothing to do with it," I teased him, making the man snort before he went ahead and filled my own cup. I usually tried to take it easy on the alcohol, sure, but I was with Whitebeard and still recovering from grief so I didn't really care as much as usual just then. Whitebeard chuckled at my words, and after a nod to each other we began to drink from our respective cups.

"I only met Shanks once," I decided to tell the old pirate in front of me after a long sip. "Back when Ace and I went to thank him for saving our little brother's life back when we were kids. I'm not sure why he feels the need to embarrass me, but I'm not a fan," after all, Shanks didn't know me. Not like he knew Luffy. Yet, for some reason, he took time and went out of his way to embarrass me. It was a bit baffling.

Whitebeard didn't seem to think so, laughing briefly at my words. "Gurarara! Don't sell yourself short, kid," he told me, smile almost as curved as his moustache. "You've just barely broken a hundred million berry bounty, but your crew isn't taken lightly," he paused as he drank from his refilled cup. "You know that merely meeting with us would bring attention to you, right?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Of course, not just anybody can meet with you personally, and after today I'll get even more attention for doing it twice," I admitted. "Most people shrug it off as me being friends with Ace, since most people still think we had been only allies before he joined your crew."

Whitebeard's grin widened almost predatorily. "You're thinking about the normal public. The people who trust the newspapers and don't know anything real about Pirates, about those of us worth watching," he said slowly, as if trying to put as much importance in his words as he could. "But the powerful crews have their eyes on you too. The pirates worth watching are taking notice of you," he set his empty cup down and leaned slightly forward over his crossed legs. "They know you're purposely avoiding a high bounty right away. They see what that brat Shanks and I see," he leaned back, his smile finally widening enough to show off all his teeth. "They know you'll be joining the ranks of the big crews."

I had to set my cup down before I spilled anything in it. That was high praise, especially from Whitebeard. For a long moment, I could only stare at him.

"I'm a rookie," I replied at first, not quite sure how to respond. He snorted.

"A rookie with Conqueror's," he pointed out, making me snap my mouth shut. It wasn't common knowledge yet, but the reminder was enough to make his point known. "You're almost like Roger, back when he was sailing," that made me snap my eyes to his face—his eyes were on mine, ensnaring me and not allowing me to look away. "We were enemies, true, but we were known to have a cup of sake together now and then. You are very different from him. Not as carefree or wild, or as unfalteringly powerful, but you have the same aura. Like shaking hands with a Grand Line hurricane," he drank from his cup. "You might not be Pirate King, but it's easy to sense that you won't let your name be forgotten. Any pirate worth their salt can see that in you. If I didn't, you wouldn't be here drinking with me, Ace's sister or not."

I finished my cup of sake in one gulp, needing the kick to help me digest what he had just said about me. I couldn't even quantify how flattered I was, his words filled my bones with joy and accomplishment. I doubted if I was actually making any sort of difference every day, every day I wondered if I was making the right choice, if I was capable of the change I wanted to make. In less than five minutes, Whitebeard managed to wash all those doubts away and fill me with confidence.

What the hell did I do to deserve praise like that from the strongest pirate in the world?

"You got a tattoo?!" A familiar voice asked, making me turn my head and grin at the approaching form of my twin. Just as I had wanted back on Christmas, there was a new tattoo on my right arm of the letters ASL with a cursive M curling behind them all. Instead of being done sideways like on my gloves, it was in a column like Ace's tattoo of his own name so that it was easy to read in once glance and was more noticeable. The M was purple, the A was orange, the S was blue, and the L was red. I had gotten it in Sabaody, right before we headed back into the New World.

"I sure did, and it's not as egotistical as yours," I replied easily, grinning. Ace actually ignored my words, taking in the tattoo for a long silent moment before meeting my eyes.

"You are so sappy," he deadpanned, but the spark in his eyes betrayed him. I felt my smile widen.

"You're gonna get it now, too, aren't you?"

"..."

"Thought so," Whitebeard chuckled with me after I said that, and despite his blush Ace still came over to sit to the side, forming a half circle where he was between me and Whitebeard. I looked up, letting a nurse refill my sake and waiting until she was gone to speak again. "I'm guessing you told him?" I asked Ace, not having overlooked the blatant way Whitebeard had compared me to our father. Ace shifted a bit, uncomfortable, but nodded. I smirked, bringing my cup up to my lips and looking at it instead of him. "About time, idiot."

Ace sputtered for a second, then sighed and smiled up at me tiredly.

"I should have known you wouldn't care," he admitted, sounding exasperated. Whitebeard laughed.

"What, do you want me to get angry or something?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. "Ace, multiple people who knew him have already pointed out how we are practically his spitting image. If he," I nodded to indicate Whitebeard, " _didn't_ suspect whose child you were the moment he saw you, I'd eat my hat."

Newgate's smile was wide, and Ace only had to glance at him once before groaning in realization that I was right.

"Maven-San! Ace-San!" Another familiar voice came up, making my brother and I turn to see a very familiar fishman walking over to us, slightly dripping water to show that he had just swam over. I grinned at Jimbei, nodding a greeting as he sat across from Ace and completed the circle the four of us were sitting in. After bowing and greeting Newgate, of course. Jimbei's eyes almost instantly fell to my belt, where a small fan sat. His eyebrows rose. "I did not know you used war fans, Maven-San."

I looked down to the weapon, which looked like a small version of one of Synalla's tessen. I picked it up, setting down my cup of sake.

"I don't," I agreed. "But my crew has a tradition— every time a member dies, we have a month-long requiem in their honor. Kilik, our first weaponsmith, died almost three weeks ago. He wanted us to look for the strangest weapons we could find and test them out, as his requiem," I explained. I flicked the fan open, and it looked like a normal razor-bladed tessen. Then I flicked it again, and it opened into a complete, miniature Shield with a razor blade around the entire circumference. "This is my latest find," I pressed a button in the handle, and the center of the shield-fan-blade-thing poked out into a six-inch long needle. Done showing it off, I retracted everything and settled it back into the small, closed-fan shape it had and slid it back onto my belt. Whitebeard's eyes were heavy on me, and Ace was frowning, but I ignored them and watched Jinbei's eyebrows furrow.

"I am sorry for your loss," he said sincerely, bowing his head. I smiled sadly, lifting my cup of sake up.

"Don't be. He lived longer than the doctors thought he would. Leave the mourning to his crew," I said as kindly as I could, grateful for his words despite what I said. I was about to take another deep drink of my alcohol, but Ace swiped it and finished the cup off for me. I glared at him.

"If I had known you were in mourning, I never would have let you drink," He said firmly, setting my cup down in front of himself. I looked up at Whitebeard, but he was ignoring us and taking a long sip from his gigantic cup as if to tease me. I felt my eyebrow twitch.

"Yeah? Whitebeard's nurses don't want him to drink either but I don't see _him_ letting them have their way. Give me my cup back, brat."

"No, Mave," Ace's low voice and stern look made me pause, and huff. I ran a hand through my hair, slightly knocking my fedora out of place. He used his nickname for me to get me to listen to him, the asshole.

"Fine, whatever," I wasn't nearly drunk enough to deal with Protective Ace. I was only tipsy, which pissed me off. "Be lucky I love you, or I'd wrestle that cup right back from you, jerk."

"You'd wrestle it away from me anyway, if you really wanted it back," Ace shot back without missing a beat. I just grunted, accepting a cup of normal juice from a nurse to replace my sake.

I glared at Ace the whole time I drank from it.

"Gurara," Whitebeard chuckled without remorse for me. "Tell us about what happened back at the Ceres Kingdom!"

I felt my shoulders relax, and happily started to tell them about what had happened in the six months since I had last visited.

—*—*—*—*—*

Katie was waiting for me when I got to the girl's cabin that night. She was sitting on my cot, cleaning her bow and daggers. She set her weapons aside when she saw me, and I wasted no time sitting next to her. She had consoled me like that when Lin had died, too, knowing that I didn't want to make a scene or cry in front of my crew but also knowing that I was just as human as anyone else and needed comfort.

The blonde slung her arm over my shoulders, pulling me into a side hug. I took a deep breath, releasing it slowly.

"That did you some good," Katie said after a moment of silence. "Talking with your brother and Whitebeard, even Jimbei. You were more relaxed than I've seen you since the funeral," she took my fedora off my head, sitting it on the bedside chest that her weapons were also resting on top of.

"It's nice," I admitted. "They have no reason to be sad about Kilik, so I don't have to worry about any tears or anything if I bring up his name. And Whitebeard and Jimbei treat me like I'm some bigshot Captain," I chuckled a bit at that thought. Whitebeard's compliments were still humming pleasantly through my veins.

Katie nodded, smiling. "You are, though," she said simply. "Maybe not here in the New World yet, but in Paradise you _are_ a bigshot. _We_ are. And we'll become even more well known on this half of the Grand Line. We'll make our names known, and you'll make that happen."

I took a slow, deep breath before nodding. "I will," I agreed. "I have to," I pulled away from our hug, glancing at Katie slyly. "But don't think that consoling me means you can get out of your weekly checkup with Raz."

"Damn."

The next day, I was laying down on the deck of the Dying Dream as we sailed away from the Moby Dick. I was lifting a five-ton barbell, Gino spotting me, with my arms and a three-ton barbell with my legs. I flexed my toes, clad in the foot gloves from Kilik, on the third level of tension. My hand gloves weren't on at all, I'd exercise my grip later.

"Grape!" Katie yelled, and I lifted my head just in time to open my mouth and catch the grape she threw at me. I lowered my head, did a few more reps, and then my first mate's voice rose up again: "Strawberry!" And I repeated my earlier action, raising my head to catch the fruit in my mouth as it flew at my face. Chewing happily, my crew chuckled around me as they watched the spectacle that was me training. The newer members were entranced by how much I was lifting, and the fact that my first mate was casually tossing me food as if my exercise was a game. "Orange slice!"

"Land ahoy!" Cala's voice called, making us pause. I handed off my five-ton weight to Gino, putting away the weight my legs had been lifting on my own before I stood up and slung Stormfall onto my back.

"What's she look like?" I called up to the Zoan user standing on the highest observation deck. He lowered his spyglass, looking down at me.

"Looks like a summer island! Covered in thick rainforest, seems like a playground for Raz," he called down. I nodded, smiling as I turned to see the purple haired head of our crew's lead doctor poke up out of the trap door leading to the infirmary at those words. His grey eyes sparkled.

"Really? Give me the spyglass," he started making his way up to Cala, but the Zoan shook his head.

"Wait. We should go around, there's already a crew sailing around near the shore. Looks like they might try fighting if we get too close."

I furrowed my eyebrows, humming in thought. Signaling Raz to stay on the main deck, I hopped up to join the scout/navigator, pulling up my own binoculars to get a look at the situation. Sure enough, there were several ships sailing in a loose circle a safe distance from the shore of the island we were approaching. I frowned, focusing on their Jolly Roger. It wasn't one I recognized. It was a winking skull and crossbones with a magician's wand held in between the teeth and a red cape behind the skull. I lowered the binoculars, feeling equal parts annoyed and cautious.

On one hand, it was a New World pirate crew we didn't know yet.

On the other hand, it was a very obviously heavily magician-themed crew, and I was not in any rush to deal with the Pirates I could already sense were ridiculous attention seekers.

"Oi, Azalea, we found your long lost family," I called out, tossing my binoculars to the magician, who raised an eyebrow in confusion before climbing up to the observation deck and looking through the binoculars to see what I meant. It only took a few seconds before she lowered the tools, handing them back to me with a very deadpan look on her face.

"Very funny, Maven," the redhead droned monotonously, having absolutely zero of my shit at the moment. I grinned at her unrepentantly.

"Go ahead and take us around the left side of the island," I called down to Katie, who nodded when she heard me and started steering in the direction I pointed. Our other ships followed. The unknown pirates faded into the distance eventually, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe we wouldn't have to deal with them.

An hour later we were docking on the shore of the island, Katie and I getting off and looking around. Katie has one hand on Raz's collar, despite her perpetual fear of the doctor, to keep him from getting lost in the new area. He was already jotting down rapid notes in a notebook and he had only gotten a glance at the place. It didn't seem like he even noticed the blonde acting like his human leash. Yalla joined us, having been a bit clingy around the three of us since Kilik's death. We were all that was left of the original crew, after all, so it wasn't odd that she stuck closer to us than usual.

I turned back to the ships. "Alright!" I shouted, gaining everyone's attention. "The four of us are gonna scout the area. Gino and Synalla are in charge of the Dream until we get back, ship leaders obviously in charge of your own ships. Don't die, don't wreak havoc without your ship leader's permission, all the usual rules. We should be back by sun down," I waved a hand lazily as dismissal, turning and leading our small group into the forest.

It didn't take long for things to go to shit.

"This is undocumented. I'm taking several samples for study, I wonder…" Raz was rambling, looking at a bright pink-and-yellow plant. I smiled, but knowing what kind of a place the New World was I had my Observation spread as far as it could go. Katie, whose observation was much more reliable than mine, also had hers spread out. Yalla was crouched by Raz, absorbing everything the Doctor was muttering and keeping an eye on him the whole time.

I decided to walk slightly ahead of everyone else, keeping their auras in easy range of my Observation. That was my first mistake.

—*—*—*—*—*

Katie froze, pulling out her bow and notching an arrow. Raz and Yalla, sewing her out of the corner of their eyes, looked up to see their first mate wildly looking around, eyes wide with panic. The doctor's eyebrows furrowed, and he stood up after shoving his latest sample into a pouch.

"What is it?" He asked her, making the blonde's mouth curve into a worried frown. Her eyes barely darted over to him.

"Maven," she answered distractedly. "Her aura was just ahead of us, scouting, but it just— it's _gone."_

Raz didn't like the sound of that, instantly sending his own observation forward. It was true; he couldn't feel Maven at all. "What does that mean? What happened?"

"I felt a strange aura for a split second. It just came and went, and suddenly Maven wasn't there anymore," Katie explained hurriedly, starting to jog off to the last spot she had sensed her captain. Raz followed without complaint, letting Yalla carry him so he didn't spike his heart rate too high. The younger girl had gotten extremely protective of him.

They noticed something horribly wrong right away, because when they got to the spot Katie remembered the woman being, Stormfall lay abandoned on the ground without any sign of the captain.

Yalla squeaked, distressed. Maven never went _anywhere_ off the Dream without her axe. The teen set Raz down gently, reaching forward to pick it up. She was the only one of the three strong enough to hold the weapon. Batting away flying harpoons helped her develop strength in her ribbon-arms.

Raz and Katie shared a worried look, sending glanced at the purple blade. Where had Maven gone?

"We need to get back to the crew," Katie decided out loud. With Maven gone, she was the next in command. Again. "Cala can track her by scent. We can send out a few small groups out to search for her, cover more ground."

"It might have something to do with that pirate crew we saw on the south end of the island," Yalla offered up, growing more and more knowledgeable in tactic and battle oriented things as she grew older. Being that she had practically grown up on a pirate ship, it wasn't odd. Raz nodded, agreeing with the pinkette.

"We need Azalea. If everyone on that ship is a magician like their Jolly Roger suggests, her experience could come in handy," Raz thought out loud.

"Or more likely, save our and Maven's asses," Katie agreed firmly.

They hurried back to the ship, staying as close together as possible, especially with Yalla carrying Raz. When they arrived at the shore, they couldn't help but clench their jaws.

The ships were gone.

"Well shit." Raz couldn't help but curse, causing the two girls with him to glare at him for saying such an accurate phrase in perfect monotone.

—*—*—*—*—*

Gino watched the four still living original members of the Hopeless Pirates disappear into the rainforest. Figuring the next few hours would be pretty boring, he pulled out a deck of cards and decided to play a game of poker with whoever wanted to play. Synalla and Azalea agreed almost immediately, Cala deciding to refrain to keep an eye on their surroundings. Ten minutes in, Azalea stood up and set her cards down face up even though it was nowhere near the end of her turn.

If she had still cared about the game at that point, she would have just revealed having an almost complete royal straight flush, but it was easy for her crewmates to see that her focus was no longer on them at all.

"What?" Gino asked, eyebrow raised. Azalea's eyebrows were furrowed, and her eyes were rapidly scanning around her.

"Auras," she explained. She had an almost inhuman affinity for Observation, probably due to her Feel-Feel fruit already allowing her to sense people's presences by their emotions. "Boats of them. I think it's the pirate crew we saw before, they followed us," she told them, frowning.

"Let's get ready for a fight then," Dyan called down, walking over from his place by the wheel. "Gino can pull up the anchor."

"No!" Azalea protested, shaking her head. "It's a crew of magicians, we need to keep all the boats as close as possible or we'll fall into their trap. If we get separated, it's easy for us to fall into whatever rhythm they want. We'll be left only doing what they want us to do, and we'll be thinking we're looking for our crew or getting closer to the enemy when we're just chasing our own tails."

Gino frowned, nodding. He trusted Azalea, she knew more about misdirection than anyone else on the crew for obvious reasons. "Okay, let's spread the word then. Rabid! Ho— shit."

The Dream crew had looked out to warn the other two ships, only to find that they were gone. They had been there only a moment ago. Azalea cursed.

"They're still there!" The magician insisted. "They're auras, the crews are still there but they can't see or hear us. I think the magician crew put some kind of illusion barrier to make them think we're all separated," the redhead explained, ripping off a plank from a crate and tossing it in a random direction. It bounced off an invisible wall.

"Glass, probably," Dyan offered. "I don't think it's a devil fruit ability, or it wouldn't be able to stand right over the ocean like that."

Azalea nodded. "Mirrors are a classic in magic," she agreed. Suddenly panic overtook her usually playful features. "No! Both ships are starting to sail in opposite directions!"

"Shit," Synalla cursed. "We can't communicate with Conill or Lily, they have no idea it's a trap so they'll—"

"Follow the magicians' rhythm," Azalea confirmed grimly. "Walk further into the damn trap. Fuck," she ran a hand through her blood red curls. "We might not even be visible from the shore. If Maven and the others come back, they'll think we all left."

Everyone went silent at the revelation, feeling— ironically— almost hopeless.

Too bad the Hopeless Pirates, contrary to popular belief, didn't _do_ being hopeless.

"Guess you have a whole crew of magicians to one-up, Miss Future Greatest Magician," Cala drawled, having jumped down from his scout post to join them during their discussion. His lynx-like ears had easily picked up every word. He grinned ferally. "Up for the challenge?"

Azalea returned the grin with a predatory one of her own, followed by Gino's own shark-toothy smirk and Synalla's haughty upturn of the lips. Even Dyan sported his King's grin.

Nobody messed with the Hopeless Pirates and got away with it, they'd hand these wanna-be magician pirates their asses.

"Okay, So here's the plan," Azalea started. "They probably sent people deep underwater to set these traps up, since we wouldn't normally have our observation stretched beneath us. And since we can count the number of crews with humans and fishmen working together on one hand, I bet they're using submarines…"

—*—*—*—*—*

"Well fuck," Conill, usually meek like the rabbit he looked like, cursed as he noticed their ship seemed to have drifted from the others. His nose twitched. "Jinny," he turned to address their ship's cook, a plump ginger who was an absolute master with her bladed whip. "You're the best with Observation. Where do we have to go?"

Jinny closed her eyes to focus her observation, and frowned. "Nowhere," she answered, sounding puzzled. "My Haki says that none of us moved."

"She's right!" The angelfish mermaid on board, Luna, agreed and pointed to where the anchor was. Completely in the water. "I swam down, everything's connected. We haven't drifted so much as an inch."

Conill frowned, foot absently tapping on the wood of the deck. "Cala said there was another crew spotted near the island. They probably snuck up and put some kind of barrier between us and the other ships. We need to find a way around, so we can get orders from Gino and Synalla."

—*—*—*—*—*

Lily was shocked to her giant size, both of the other ships had slid out of existence. Not blinked, not faded, _slid._ "Heads up, crew!" She barked, getting everyone's attention immediately. "Looks like some damn idiots decided to separate us from our nakama. I saw glass rise from the water."

"What'd you say, then?" The squid fishwoman on board asked, two of her arms on her hip.

Lily smiled. "It's just glass. We can yell," Lily said simply, turning and taking a deep breath. "YOOOO GINOOOOOOO! ANY ORDERRRSSSSSSS?"

Her crewmates rolled their eyes at her action, but generally seemed to agree with it. A chuckle drew their attention away, though, to a ship now perfectly visible. Up front and center was a very skinny man dressed in a red and black magician outfit, with a top hat that must have been at least three feet tall by itself.

"That won't work," he drawled, throwing his arms out to the side. "Our scientist-magicians have installed sound absorbers into each side of the glass, sound won't make it either way," he boasted. Lily immediately didn't like him, drawing her fork into an attack position.

"Who the hell are you? You shouldn't mess with stronger crews if you value your life, and you shouldn't mess with US if you value your dignity!"

Her crew didn't really follow her logic in saying that, but gathered behind her in attack positions anyway. The man chuckled.

"We are the Magic Pirates, obviously! A total bounty of two hundred million belly!"

Lily and the rest of her ship was Not Impressed. The Hopeless Pirates had that bounty beat by a long shot. How did such small fries stay afloat in the New World, anyway?

"Oh, I know what you're thinking," the man tutted, waving a finger with a painfully fake disappointed look on his face. "You're wondering how a crew with such a low bounty survives out here in the New World, right?" Lily's hand tightened around her weapon. Did he read her mind?! "Yes! I did read your mind, I'm a mentalist after all," the man spoke enthusiastically, waving his arms in a flourish. "The answer to the first question, however, is that we are like you. We purposely keep out of trouble with the World Government to keep our bounties low," he lifted his obscenely tall hat off his head, gesturing with it. "But then you come into the scene, and we can't have promising pirates like you taking our spot as the underdogs. You'll steal our spotlight! So. You and Usurper Maven have got to go, before you can make any waves."

Lily wasn't the best with impulse control.

"Raise the anchor! We're takin' this donkeybutt down!"

—*—*—*—*—*

I opened my eyes, groaning. Where was I? Slowly, my memories came back. Darts had come out of nowhere, landed on my wrists, and I had been yanked away from my crew and my axe. The darts must have had drugs to knock me out, because my memories stopped there.

And my wrists were bound behind me, with handcuffs too thick for me to break. What the hell were they made of?

"Don't bother struggling," an oily voice drawled in front of me, making me freeze. I didn't know that voice, but I knew that _aura._

That oily, disgusting, _vile_ , slimy aura.

I looked up, laying my eyes on a man with deathly grey skin, and sunken red eyes. He had on a jet black magician's outfit, with no speck of color to be seen. Just layers and deeper and deeper shades of black on top of one another, it looked as if he was wearing a black hole.

"Those cuffs are made of sea stone. Whatever devil fruit gives you your strength, you can't use it."

I snarled, like an animal, at the implication. He chuckled at my face.

"Oh please, you can't expect me to believe a _woman_ can just naturally be as strong as you without the help of a devil fruit? I'm not stupid, bitch."

" _You,"_ I growled, straining against the diamond-strong restraints. "You were on that government ship in East Blue! The one experimenting on terminally ill people and revolutionary captives!"

He scowled at me. "Yes, the one you and your crew took down. I had to use all my training to escape your skilled, but inexperienced eyes back then. Apparently you never thought to look under the water," the man leaned forward over his knobby knees. "Looks like I'll get my revenge now. Normal, emptyheaded pirates don't stand a chance against the genius of seasoned magician-pirates, after all."

I smirked predatorily. "Oh, you'll find yourself wrong in this case," I hissed back. "You won't even know what hit you until your head is suddenly watching you body float away on a ship a hundred yards away. Our crew isn't something you can just mow over with cheap tricks."

—*—*—*—*—*

**Happy new year! New adventure for a new year!**


End file.
